Regency shooting: Garda chief rejects ‘policing failure’ characterisation of investigation
The head of the An Garda Síochána’s National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has rejected the characterisation of the force’s investigation of the Regency Hotel attack as a “policing failure” because it did not result in the successful prosecution of any of the gunmen or key organisers.The attack, during which Kinahan associate David Byrne was shot dead, was followed by a major gangland feud which claimed another 17 lives.Speaking at a media event organised in advance of the 10th anniversary of the February 5th, 2016, attack, Det Chief Supt Séamus Boland said that as a result of Garda actions since the attack, 98 associates of the Kinahan and Hutch gangs had been successfully prosecuted, 19 of them in relation to murders, 25 in relation to attempted murders and 21 in connection to firearms offences.In relation to the Regency attack itself, however, Gerry Hutch, known as The Monk, was acquitted by the Special Criminal Court of murder, while the case against Patrick Hutch collapsed during a separate trial. Another man, Kevin Murray, who was pictured leaving the scene while carrying a gun, died of natural causes before he could face trial.READ MOREGeorge Mitchell says he ‘declined or deflected’ meeting Epstein amid renewed Giuffre allegationWoman awarded more than €170,000 for injuries sustained in parking space incidentHigh Court appoints provisional liquidators to EuroGiant discount storesNoah Donohoe inquest: Witnesses tell jury of hearing screams on night of disappearance The Regency Hotel attack and its aftermath The attack on a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on February 5th, 2016, was intended by the perpetrators to be revenge for the killing of Gary Hutch (34) in Spain a few months earlier by members of the Kinahan cartel.Daniel Kinahan, then 48, was the intended target. One of his associates, David Byrne, was shot and killed while another, Sean McGovern, was seriously injured but survived. Kinahan escaped uninjured.Three days later Eddie Hutch, Gary’s uncle and a brother of Gerry Hutch, was shot dead and from there the Kinahan-Hutch feud escalated, with 10 people killed by the end of that year and 18 dead as a result of related incidents by the end of 2018. About 90 people were subsequently jailed for feud-related crimes, including murder but none of the central figures in the Regency attack has been convicted in relation to it.The high-profile 13-week Special Criminal Court murder trial of Gerry Hutch ended with his acquittal, while two others were convicted of being getaway drivers. The case against Patrick Hutch collapsed during his separate trial for the murder of Byrne, while Kevin Murray, pictured leaving the scene while carrying a gun, died of natural causes in 2017. “We don’t see it as a failure,” said Boland, however.“There still five people have been convicted in relation to serious offences in relation to that murder. There’s one person who wasn’t presented before the courts due to the natural progression of terminal illness, and there are many issues. “There’s only so much that An Garda Síochána can actually do in relation to an investigation. But I definitely don’t see it as a failure.”[ Regency attack: 10 years on, why were no Hutch gang members arrested after gun seizures?Opens in new window ]Asked about the suggestion there had been communications failures within the force, with different units failing to keep each other informed of the intelligence they had gathered and that this had hampered main investigation, Boland said the gardaí involved would have made informed decisions as to what information to share.“I would be quite satisfied that the decisions made were made by people who were highly trained in decision making in high risk situations,” he said. He said, however, that debriefings take place after all such major cases and there would have been the opportunity to learn from what happened.Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland (centre) speaks to the media in Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph: Grainne Ni Aodha/PA Wire He said the Garda faced “an extraordinary task” in the wake of the attack as the feud unfolded but that the force’s response had been “resourced, resourceful and relentless”.He pointed to the fact that there had been “no organised crime firearms murders during 2025 for the first year in modern times” as “unprecedented and contrary to experiences of countries across Europe.”He said the force’s efforts to battle organised crime and apprehend those involved, including members of the Kinahan and Hutch gangs continue and “our work is not done until we bring the people who are responsible for this absolute devastation and carnage ... before the courts to face justice”.
