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How Irish police tackled Dublin's drug gangs after fake SWAT team besieged hotel
A decade on from Ireland's most notorious gangland hit, Irish police say they have had "unprecedented" success in tackling Dublin's drug gangs - and ending a bitter feud that claimed at least 18 lives.
In 2025, the Gardai recorded a total of zero gangland gun murders "for the first time in modern times" - believed to be at least 30 years. Ninety-eight members of the two most infamous organised crime groups - the Hutch and Kinahan gangs - have been jailed, and 51 attempted hits have been foiled.
It was the Hollywood-style attack on the Regency Hotel that changed Ireland's crime landscape forever. On 5 February 2016, a hit squad of assassins disguised as a police SWAT team besieged a boxing weigh-in at the hotel, near Dublin Airport.
AK47-style assault rifles were fired as hundreds of panicked attendees fled. Several were injured in the chaos, and one man - Kinahan associate David Byrne - was killed in the lobby.
The attack, Gardai say, was carried out by the Hutch gang - their target was Daniel Kinahan, head of their bitter rivals. It accelerated a feud that shocked Ireland with its ferocity, and ultimately backfired on both gangs as the police backlash strengthened.
The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, only a year old, led the way. Dubliners became accustomed to heavily-armed police checkpoints in the inner city, as politicians promised all the resources necessary.
The Regency Hotel shooting "was not just an attack on a sporting event, and the murder of Mr Byrne, but an attack on our state and and an affront to all right-minded and peaceful citizens.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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