KINAHAN feud victim Michael Barr’s sister has told of the heartbreaking moment she was informed he’d been shot dead.
Devastated Noeleen tells The Irish Sun’s new Kinahans podcast: “I was down on my two knees, screaming.”
Barman Michael, 35, was killed while attending a charity function at the Sunset House pub where he worked in Ballybough, in Dublin’s north inner city.
Evil Daniel Kinahan’s blood-thirsty cartel blamed him for being involved in the Regency Hotel shooting when he was executed on April 25, 2016.
Hit team members Eamon Cumberton, Christopher Slator and David Hunter have all been jailed for life for his murder.
Gangsters ‘call for ceasefire’ after deadly Christmas Eve pub shooting
But Michael’s grieving sister Noeleen says she had never heard of the Kinahan cartel before they blasted her brother to death.
Speaking from her home in Strabane, Co Tyrone, Noeleen tells our Kinahans podcast: “I went to bed about half nine that evening just to read a book.
“I think it was 9.40pm and my sister Deirdre phoned me and she said ‘hello’ and I said ‘hello’ and she just goes ‘he’s dead’.
“I said ‘who’s dead?’ And she says, ‘Michael’. I said ‘Michael who?’. She says ‘your brother . . .’. I started screaming and screaming.
“I remember having, I think, mum on one phone, the house phone, and I had Pat on the mobile phone and I was down on my two knees, screaming.
“And do you ever see people wailing on shoes or whatever? That’s exactly how I was. I never in my life ever felt that feeling.
“I never, ever thought I would have been the kind of person to wail, because I have always regarded myself as being a strong girl.
“I mean, we’ve had obviously grandparents pass away. And, you know, obviously you cry and you know, but to me, that was just another dimension.”
Barr was shot seven times by his brutal killers, who entered the pub wearing Freddy Krueger masks.
The extent of his injuries meant that his family had to give him a closed casket at his funeral service.
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Emotional Noeleen added: “It affected us mentally, physically, and we’ve all had to go for counselling. I’ve had counselling myself.
“You were afraid sometimes to be at home at night in case somebody was going to come to your door to shoot you as well.
TIT-FOR-TAT ATTACKS
“We had no idea how big these Kinahan people were. We had no idea of what they were or what they were involved in. I just thought it was like a tit-for-tat kind of shooting. I didn’t know who these Kinahan people were. I don’t know, what are they called now?
“I mean, Jesus, when I found out personally, like I could not believe that my brother ended up being in association with somebody. But they targeted him just because he was friends with somebody.”
The Irish Sun’s podcast, which is in its sixth week at number one, deals with the aftermath of the rival Hutch gang’s attack at Dublin’s Regency Hotel.
And it takes an in-depth look at the highly-charged funerals that took place in the capital in the days and weeks that followed.
Today’s episode reveals the Gardai had intelligence that professional assassins were to be flown to Ireland from the UK to carry out a hit at the funeral of cabbie Eddie Hutch.
REGENCY RETALIATION
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s bro was shot dead at his home in the north inner city three days after Kinahan thug David Byrne was assassinated at the Regency in February 2016.
And Tony Gallagher, Inspector in the Mountjoy division at the time, told of putting a “ring of steel” into place after getting intelligence ahead of Eddie’s funeral.
The retired officer explained: “We had very definite intelligence that someone would be targeted at the wake. We received some intelligence that people were travelling in from the UK to carry out a hit.
“We had also received info there was going to be an attack on the funeral while they moved from Sean McDermott Street up to Glasnevin.
“We had a command vehicle in the cemetery with telescopic sights to survey the site and make sure nobody would carry out an attack in the cemetery.
“There was that level of police preparation. It was evident to us the Hutches had their own spotters. We had to inquire and eliminate them as to what their function was and what they were doing.”
EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT
Irish Sun reporter Michael Doyle recalls walking in to the church for Eddie’s funeral when a familiar figure caught his eye.
He recalled: “I walked in a side entrance. A man followed me in and I did a double take and I thought that must a Hutch.
“He looked so similar, very like Gerry. He had long hair and a baseball cap. I remember thinking he must be related somehow.
“And only later did I realise it was Gerry Hutch. He wanted to keep a much lower profile so he wouldn’t be photographed with the cortege going in. He left the country very soon after that.”
The Monk was photographed that day alongside old friend Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan, who we later learned actually drove him to the church.
This pic would seal Kirwan’s fate as he was shot dead as part of the feud outside his Ronanstown home the following December merely because of his association to Hutch.
Eddie’s simple coffin was carried in to the church by relatives including nephew Gareth Hutch, who would be shot dead as part of the feud three months later.
LAVISH FUNERAL
It was a stark contrast to the sinister atmosphere at the funeral of David Byrne four days earlier, where there an extravagant display of wealth was on display. A convoy of motorcycles led his lavish coffin to the church and 11 stretch limos brought mourners to the service.
Some of Ireland’s top criminals, including Daniel Kinahan, made a rare public appearance for the service at St Nicholas of Myra Church on Dublin’s Francis Street.
Our man Michael remembers: “I didn’t think it would be any different to any other funeral, but when I arrived on Francis Street there was this sinister air. It was just different, I tried to keep as low a profile as possible.”
He added: “As I left the environs of the church after the mass a blacked-out SUV drove past me and it had the window slightly ajar. Four gardai were in the car and they were all wearing balaclavas, they were armed to the teeth.
“For the first time I stood back and said this is not like a normal gangland funeral — or funeral of any kind.”
Retired Garda Asst Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan said Byrne had a huge effect on policing.
He said: “The Regency was a wake up call to everyone, including the Government, who realised we have scaled the guards down too much and they then started to give in the resources. But it’s difficult playing catch up.”
EPISODE six of The Irish Sun’s The Kinahans podcast is out now.
