One man has been pronounced dead and two injured after a shooting at the Regency Airport Hotel during the weigh-in for tomorrow's now-cancelled Clash Of The Clans boxing card at Dublin's National Stadium.
A gang of three armed with semi-automatic weapons entered the hotel and fired a number of shots. Three men, all in their 20s or 30s, were injured at the scene, with one subsequently being pronounced dead.
The deceased is believed to be David Byrne, an associate of the Kinahan crime gang.
No fighters or media members were reported injured at the scene.
Some Background
Tomorrow's European title card was to be headlined by Dublin-born lightweight Jamie Kavanagh's WBO European title clash with Joao Bento, and was promoted by MGM Marbella - Irish middleweight Matthew Macklin's Puerto Banus-based gym.
Founded in 2013, MGM's state-of-the-art facilities are available to the local community of Marbella and beyond. A non-profit making organisation, the gym was set up to raise money for local charity Aspandem. It has already housed some elite-level fighters for training camps, including Ireland's Katie Taylor.
Given the gym's geographic proximity to Irish gang-related activities on the Costa Del Sol, some overlaps - which incidentally do not link any MGM fighter to crime - naturally exist, particularly on a social level; Dublin gangster Gary Hutch, for example - nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' - was known to work out at the gym before his murder in September 2015.
Supposed cartel heir Daniel Kinahan - one of the injured in today's shooting - is openly involved in the management of a number of MGM fighters.
Recent MGM signing Jamie Kavanagh, too, is the talented boxing son of former Kinahan associate Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh, who was murdered in a Marbella bar in 2014 (obviously, this is not to remotely suggest the former Freddie Roach prodigy had any involvement in shady dealings; frankly, the 25-year-old was too busy sparring the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan at LA's famed Wild Card Boxing Gym).
'The Nuisance' earlier tweeted his thanks to those who enquired as to his well-being following today's harrowing events:
Anyone asking I'm OK! Thanks you for asking. I was lucky today is all I can say.....
— Jamie Kavanagh (@JamieKavanagh90) February 5, 2016
Matthew Macklin is idolised as a fighter by the Kinahan gang. Indeed, Dapper Don Christy and co. have commonly bought ringside seats at 'Mack The Knife's' fights, and Macklin himself has previously been photographed in the company of both Daniel Kinahan and Gary Hutch.
The Sunday World investigation which 'exposed' said pictures, however, rather begrudgingly accepted that Macklin himself has no involvement in any criminal activities. To those familiar with the three-time world title challenger from Tipp, the news was hardly revelatory.
But during a failed attempt on Gary Hutch's life in August 2014, former British middleweight boxer Jamie Moore - a close friend of Macklin and innocent bystander - did get caught in the boxeo-criminal crossfire, and was shot in both legs in a case of mistaken identity.
Like former pugilistic opponent Macklin, Moore has no criminal involvement but maintained a social relationship with Daniel Kinahan, and was attending a party at Kinahan's Marbella villa when he was shot. Intended target Hutch reportedly fled the scene unscathed.
Away from Marbella's boxing scene, Hutch himself was initially a close associate of the Kinahan gang before being accused of pocketing over €100,000 of Christy Kinahan's coffers. After two near-escapes, he was shot dead in September of last year while trying to escape from the Costa Del Sol estate in which he lived.
The shootings at today's Dublin weigh-in are understood to have been carried out by a prominent North Dublin gang in retaliation to Hutch's murder. Simply put, those responsible for today's attacks knew their targets to have social ties to MGM Marbella, and would therefore be in attendance to support the public event at the Regency Airport Hotel.
What transpired were repugnant scenes which forced panicked members of the public - some of whom included children - to flee the hotel.
Garda Knowledge
Following Gary Hutch's murder in September 2015, the Irish Examiner reported that senior garda detectives were aware that an MGM boxing card at the National Stadium on November 7th could potentially become a melting pot for gangland retaliation to the Dubliner's death. Gardaí subsequently increased security at the event, which passed without incident.
Before the event, Cormac O'Keefe had written:
Detectives are now preparing for any potential revenge in Dublin.
Eyes are on a boxing event in November at the National Stadium involving a boxer attached to a Marbella gym controlled by senior lieutenants in the gang.
The senior members regularly attend their fights here.
The notion that the gym is 'controlled' by any particular gang is frankly wide of the mark, but Cormac O'Keefe's prudent catch would largely come to fruition in tragic circumstances earlier today.
But if gardaí were indeed fearful of gangland retaliation as recently as November, it does beg the question as to why security was not once again tightened when a minor contingent of today's attendees - at a public event, with children present - were likely some of the same alleged targets as three months ago.
A garda spokesman declined to respond to this question earlier tonight.
More to follow.
The incident at the Regency Airport Hotel was discussed on our daily podcast 'The Racket' earlier today:
