Ireland's biggest underworld figures turn out for funeral of man gunned down with AK47 at Dublin boxing weigh-in

Parts of Dublin closed-off during a tense ceremony where there were fears of an attack.

From top left: Byrne is carried in a sky blue casket, bikers lead the cortege away after the ceremony, Kinahan gang member "Fat" Freddie Thompson, and murdered gangster David Byrne

THE man gunned down at a Dublin boxing weigh-in was buried today with a heavy armed police presence in case of more gangland violence. Floral tributes for David Byrne were "swept" for bombs by roughly 90 police officers, as mourners arrived on horse and cart on a tense day in the Irish capital.

Byrne's casket is carried through Dublin

 Armed police provided the highest level of security in Dublin since Queen Elizabeth's visit in 2011.
Byrne, 34, was described as a loving father with a great sense of humour in what was one of the biggest gangland funerals in the country's history.

Byrne was buried in a sky blue casket

Family comforted each other during the ceremony at the St Nicholas of Myra Church. Byrne was gunned down at the Regency Hotel on February 5 as part of a bloody war between Ireland's two main crime families.

A picture of Byrne sits in a floral frame

 The dad-of-two was a member of "Irish Godfather" Christy Kinahan's gang who are warring with Gerry "The Monk" Hutch's gang. Police feared Kinahan's enemies might use today's funeral to launch another bloody attack, with large parts of Dublin cut-off as Byrne's body was taken from his home in Crumlin to the Mount Jerome cemetry.

Mourners at the funeral of gangster David Byrne

 Daniel Kinahan, Christy's eldest son and heir to his £500million crime empire, was at the funeral despite being the target of the Regency Hotel attack. He managed to dive out of an emergency escape window when a gang-of-six opened fire.

Parts of Dublin were closed-off and there was a high security presence during the funeral

 A host of other notorious gangsters were there for the Byrne's ceremony including Daniel's brother Chris Jnr. Both of the Kinahan brothers flew in from Portugal and were met by gangster "Fat" Freddie Thompson.


Byrne was buried in a sky blue casket and after the service bikers led the cortege away from the church.
In the day's before Byrne's funeral gangsters were leaving the country out of fears his funeral could lead to more attacks, the Irish Mirror reported.
Gardai, the Irish police, had monitored the area overnight.
Security sources believe Byrne was shot dead in retaliation for the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain last year.
Gary was the nephew of Gerry "The Monk" Hutch.
Three days after Byrne's killing Kinahan's gang struck back when a four-man hit squad smashed their way into the home of Gerry's brother Eddie Hutch Sr and shot him dead.