Gardaí believe two men arrested in connection with the feud-related murder of Eddie Hutch were centrally involved in his killing.
Both suspects have been implicated in other murders in the past and gardaí believe they were among four men who attacked father of five Hutch at his home on Poplar Row, Dublin 1, on the night of February 8th last.
The men being questioned were arrested on Monday and can be held for up to seven days without charge.
One of the suspects in his 30s and is being held at Dublin’s Bridewell Garda station, with the other man, who is in his 20s, detained Mountjoy station.
The men are the first people to be arrested in connection with any of the five Kinahan-Hutch feud killings in the Republic.
The development comes at a time when the Garda is under intense pressure to bring charges against suspects in a bid to quell a worsening security situation.
One of the men in custody is believed to have been directly involved in the attempted murder of John Gilligan in 2013 and his wounding in a gun attack in 2014.
The same suspect is also believed to have shot dead Noel Duggan outside his home in Ratoath, Co Meath, last month.
Like the killing of Eddie Hutch, Duggan’s murder was linked to the Kinahan Hutch feud.
The other man currently being questioned about Hutch’s murder is a well known gangland figure linked to the Kinahan gang.
That second suspect has also been very closely linked to the drugs gang in Finglas, north Dublin, once led by Marlo Hyland and later Eamon Dunne and was involved in the contract killing of Lithuanian woman Baiba Saulite who was shot dead at her home in Swords, Co Dublin, in 2006 as part of a personal vendetta.
Hyland and Dunne lost their lives in gun attacks; in December, 2008, and April, 2010 respectively.
Inquiry progressing well
Garda sources said the inquiry into the murder of Eddie Hutch has been progressing well since the taxi driver was shot.
There days before he was shot a group of men stormed into a boxing tournament weigh-in at the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, and shot dead David Byrne (33), from Crumlin, in an attack that wounded two other men.
The attack on Byrne, who was a member of the Christy Kinahan drugs gang led from Spain, was seen as revenge for the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain last September.
The 34-year-old from Dublin’s north inner city was once a member of the Kinahan gang but was shot dead by them after he was accused of being a Garda informer.
The armed gang who carried out the Regency attack were associates of Gary Hutch, who wanted to avenge his death by targeting members of the Kinahan gang gathered in the hotel for the boxing match weigh-in.
Byrne’s murder has been followed by four further gun killings, including the shooting dead of Eddie Hutch - who was targeted because he was Gary Hutch’s uncle.
On March 23rd Hutch family associate Noel Duggan (55) was shot dead in the driveway at his home in Ratoath, Co Meath.
Duggan was a close friend to Gerry Hutch, who is the uncle and brother of Gary and Eddie Hutch respectively.
On April 14th, Martin O’Rourke (24) was shot dead outside Noctor’s Pub on Sheriff Street in the north inner city.
He was killed in a case of mistaken identity by a gunman apparently looking to shoot a Hutch associate.
On Monday, April 25th, Michael Barr (35) was shot dead the Sunset House, Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1.
He is believed to have been killed by Kinahan gang gunmen looking to shoot a Hutch family member in the pub at the time.
While Barr worked in the pub and was not the prime target, he was a dissident republican who was suspect of helping to source AK47s used in the Regency attack.
