There were no gangland gun murders in the Republic in 2025, marking – for the first time in at least three decades – no such murders in a year. Looking back to the Celtic Tiger era, there were more than 20 gangland gun murders in some years. Kinahan cartel associate David Byrne (33), the brother of Liam Byrne, who ran the cartel’s Irish operation at the time, was murdered in the attack. He aided the Kinahan cartel kill teams who murdered father of four Noel Kirwan in Clondalkin in west Dublin in December 2016 and Michael Barr in the Sunset House Pub in Dublin 1 in April 2016. “There have been hundreds of Martin Aylmers,” Boland says of those who had assisted scores of gangland gun murders.

Source: The Irish Times December 27, 2025 19:33 UTC