The people of Ireland will not sit back and allow those involved in the Kinahan organised crime gang to ‘whitewash what they have done to our capital city.’
Pat Leahy, the former garda in charge of the fight against organised crime in Dublin, told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that the Hutch – Kinahan feud “left a stain on our city and our country.”
“The legacy is that we have a trail of death and destruction in the north inner city and across the capital,” he said.
“There are 18 deaths attributable to this particular feud and that is just outrageous, it is totally unacceptable.
“I mean really that whole time has left a stain on our city and our country as a consequence of a certain group waging war on the people of Dublin and the people of the north inner city.”
Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy speaking to the media at Christ Christ Church Cathedral. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNewsMr Leahy, who retired from his role last week, said he is absolutely convinced the Kinahan gang will be dismantled.
“There is no alternative to dismantling them,” he said.
“The reality is, that's what happened with all of the groups prior to the Kinahans and it will happen to everybody afterwards as well.
“You can’t take on the State and hope to walk away when you visit that kind of death and destruction on the communities and the citizens of our country – or any other country.”
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) March 8, 2017
He was speaking after Daniel Kinahan, who was named by the High Court as a senior figure in the Kinahan gang, was forced to walk away from his boxing promotion company in Bahrain.
Mr Kinahan played a key role in organising the upcoming world title fights between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called for people to boycott the fights due to his involvement and the controversy led to Fury dropping him as his negotiator.
Bahrain-based KHK Sports Management then announced that it was ending its association with the Dubliner.
Tyson Fury celebrates defeating Deontay Wilder at the MGM Grand, 22-02-2020. Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/PA ImagesMr Leahy said the episode showed that the Irish people won’t allow him to whitewash his past.
“You can see the net tightening and you can see what happened in recent months where we had an attempt to set aside everything that has happened,” he said.
“An attempt to go on a marketing campaign to cleanse his name and his history and his legacy and of course the people of Ireland would not accept that, our Government would not accept that and the State as a whole won’t accept that.
“We saw the response that came from that and we saw the aftermath of it."
"Huge mistake"
He said Mr Kinahan “made a huge mistake thinking he could whitewash what that group has done to our capital city.”
“I think he made his mistake and he has found out now to his detriment that the people of Ireland will not sit back and they require justice to be done,” he said.
“There was no way he was ever going to cleanse what he has done to our city and to our country.”
Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy at Ballymun Garda Station in Dublin, 23-05-2019. Image: Cate McCurry/PA Archive/PA ImagesThe former assistant commissioner said there is a global network of police working to fight organised crime.
“I think what people misunderstand in the criminal world is that the police family is not confined to one country or one area,” he said.
“There is a network of police across the world and when they come together and focus on a particular issue or a particular group, they are going to dismantle them
“So, I am absolutely confident that is what is going to happen. We can see it happening over the last number of years and again this week.”
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