HEAVILY-ARMED gardaí are to cordon off part of inner city Dublin during the funeral of gangland murder victim David Byrne this afternoon.
The funeral of the 34-year-old will take place at the Church of St Nicholas of Myra on Francis Street in what has been described as the largest security operation in the Republic since Queen Elizabeth's visit in 2011.
Byrne was gunned down in broad daylight at a boxing weigh-in in the Regency Hotel in Dublin earlier this month.
The streets around his family home in Raleigh Square, Crumlin were being patrolled as he was waked over the weekend.
A security cordon is expected to be set up around Francis Street around the time of the funeral and heavily-armed officers from the Emergency Response Unit will mount patrols during and after the Mass.
Byrne will be buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery in Harold's Cross.
Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has overseen the security arrangements for the funerals of Byrne and Eddie Hutch, who was murdered just days later.
It is understood gardaí have been preparing for Byrne's funeral for the last five days.
Byrne gunned down on Friday February 5. The following Monday 59-year-old taxi driver Eddie Hutch Snr, who was not involved in crime, was shot dead at his home in north Dublin in apparent retaliation.
A brother of crime boss Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, his funeral is due to take place later this week. Gerry Hutch is understood to be in Dublin but it is not clear whether he will attend his brother's funeral.
Following questions about whether gardaí could have acted to prevent the Regency Hotel attack, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said last week he had "full confidence" in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan's ability to deal with the situation.
"As the Garda Commissioner has requested assistance from the government, she gets it, both in terms of resources and in terms of capacity to do this job," he said.
Heavily armed gardaí have been seen on the streets of Dublin amid fears of an escalating gangland feud which has now claimed three lives - those of Eddie Hutch Snr, David Byrne and Gary Hutch, who was shot dead in Marbella in Spain in September.
A permanent armed Garda support unit will be established in the city to combat organised crime.
The Irish News reported last week that gardaí are searching for a man from Derry suspected of being one of those involved in Byrne's murder.
The man's name is known to gardaí.
