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Liam Byrne pays tribute to brother David on Regency Hotel shooting anniversary

Relatives and exiled brother recall anniversary of Kinahan gangster David Byrne's murder

Flowers and balloons form a memorial to David Byrne outside the Regency [now Bonnington] Hotel where he was shot dead six years ago.

Neil Fetherstonhaugh

Exiled gang boss Liam Byrne has paid tribute to his brother David six years on from his murder during the Regency Hotel attack.

Family members of the slain gangster marked the sixth anniversary of his death with flowers and pictures at the scene of the attack in north Dublin where he was gunned down on February 5, 2016.

They also left notes for the Kinahan cartel criminal who died when members of the Hutch gang burst into a boxing weigh-in at the hotel on February 5 and opened fire.

It is believed that Daniel Kinahan was the target of the shocking attack, which sparked a bloody gang war that claimed 18 lives.

David Byrne was gunned down at the Regency Hotel.

Yesterday, the railings outside what is now called the Bonnington, was festooned with balloons with blue ribbons, pictures and notes to the Crumlin man who was 34 when he was killed.

In one note, Byrne's older brother Liam wrote: "David. My baby brother. I love and miss you every day."

In another, his parents, James and Sadie, expressed how their "beautiful baby boy" was "the life and soul of our family".

"Can't believe it's been six years since you were brutally murdered," they have written, under a picture of a smiling Byrne giving the finger to the camera.

Tributes to David Byrne outside the Regency [now Bonnington] hotel where he was shot dead six years ago

"Our life has changed forever. We miss your smile. We miss your laugh. You were the life and soul of our family. Our hearts are broken without you.

"Love and miss you so much, mam and dad."

His sister Melanie wrote: "My beautiful baby brother, we miss you so much. Six long years since you were taken from us and still no justice. We miss you every day. Our family will never be the same. We miss your laughter and you smile."

After his brother David was killed at the Regency Hotel, Liam fled Ireland as the Garda Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) moved in and seized millions of euro worth of his wealth in 2019.

The CAB has also seized dozens of high-powered vehicles, jewellery, bank accounts and Byrne's Raleigh Square home in Crumlin, which was apparently fitted with a panic room and jacuzzi.

He is suspected to be running the notorious Kinahan cartel from his bolthole in the UK when he became Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man after his brother-in-law Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was jailed in 2019.

Gardaí are reportedly still hunting Byrne and are still investigating the alleged activities of the most senior members of the Kinahan cartel after jailing many of their lieutenants in recent years.


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