Applause fills church after brother hails slain gangster as role model
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Wednesday May 05 2010
A SLAIN gangster, suspected of ordering more than a dozen murders, was described as a great "role model" at his funeral yesterday.
More than 400 people turned out to mourn Eamonn Dunne (34), who was gunned down in a Dublin pub last Friday week.
The Finglas-based drug trafficker had been a major garda target and one of the most feared criminals in the State.
But no mention was made of his criminal activity or the manner of his death as he was laid to rest yesterday.
Instead, his brother David received a round of applause from mourners at the Church of the Holy Family on Aughrim Street in Stoneybatter, Dublin, after making a tearful tribute in which he lauded the gang boss as "a top skin".
"You couldn't ask for a better role model to be honest with you. Ever since I was a young fellow I just wanted to be like him," he said. "If I turn out to be half the man he did, I'll be doing alright."
Gardai mounted a discreet security operation to ensure the funeral passed off peacefully.
Security sweeps were done of the church grounds a number of times during the past week and again in the hours before the service as a precautionary measure to ensure no weapons had been hidden there.
Associates
Many criminal associates of Dunne also stayed away as a gangland blame game continues to rage over who organised the killing.
The father-of four was drinking with friends at a birthday party in the Faussagh House pub in Cabra on April 23 when two gunmen burst in and fired six bullets into his head and upper body. He died instantly.
His distraught 17-year-old daughter Amy witnessed the assassination.
Yesterday, his funeral cortege arrived at the church shortly before 10am.
Eight pallbearers, including Finglas brothers Alan and Wayne Bradley, carried the casket from the hearse as a recording of Snow Patrol's 'Run' was played through speakers.
The chief mourners were Dunne's parents Eamonn and Margaret, sisters Suzanna and Lynne, brother David, and his children Amy, Sean, Libby and Ellis.
A young woman signed the service for a deaf member of the Dunne family.
The funeral celebrant, Monsignor Dermot Clarke, told mourners that the Dunnes wanted "a quiet and dignified funeral and to be allowed to bury their son, father and brother in a dignified way".
"Life is precious and we should value it. Some have lost the sense of the sacredness of human life and that is to be regretted," said Mgr Clarke.
"His death has brought sadness and grief to his parents, his children, his brother and sisters. We pray for them in their hour of need.
"Eamonn's life was cut short and it is not natural for parents to bury their own children. In the eyes of all parents their children are always their children."
The offertory was accompanied by a woman singing a version of Bryan Adams's 'Heaven'.
One of the gifts, the jersey of Tolka Rovers, a soccer team Dunne once played for, was brought forward and placed on the coffin.
A recording of Charlie Landsborough's 'My Forever Friend' was played later in the service.
As the funeral drew to a close, Dunne's sister Lynne reminisced with mourners about her brother's childhood and said: "Eamonn had a heart of gold."
A letter written by Dunne's son Sean was also read out in which the young boy said his heart was shattered.
After the service, Dunne was buried in Dardistown Cemetery near Dublin Airport.
Gardai investigating Dunne's murder say he had a long list of enemies.
He was believed to have organised the murders not just of criminal rivals but also of a number of his own associates.
- Shane Phelan
Irish Independent
