Stokes flies in for benefit night in memory of RIRA thug Alan Ryan

[ian1964 10,565]

Stokes flies in for benefit night in memory of RIRA thug Alan Ryan

Celtic star Anthony mingled with the crowd after slipping in unseen

By Alison O'Reilly

 

 

Photo captions: knees-up: How we reported the party for Real IRA gangster Ryan; striker: Anthony Stokes has four caps for Ireland; party atmosphere: Ireland international Anthony Stokes catches up with friends and family at the benefit night for murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan, inset

IRELAND international footballer Anthony Stokes has been pictured attending a memorial party for slain Real IRA leader Alan Ryan, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

 

Stokes, 24, was at the benefit night in Crumlin in Dublin in honour of Ryan, who was shot dead on September 3 near his home in Donaghmede, north Dublin.

 

Stokes knew Ryan for years through his association with the Players' Lounge Bar in Fairview, which is owned by the footballer's family.

 

The Celtic striker slipped in unnoticed by the many gardaí and reporters present on the night.

 

Inside, Stokes, from Dublin's north inner city, mingled with the crowd, which included his sister Geraldine, 32, and his birth mother, Ann Byrne.

 

Stokes's brother Michael, 27, is a former guitar player for republican band The Players Brigade, who were selling a tribute CD featuring a song called The Ballad Of Alan Ryan on the night (Michael himself was not at the memorial).

 

The song, which was played at the event, includes the lyrics: 'We vow to carry on his work/ we will follow in his lead/ we will find out where those gangsters lurk/ we will avenge their cowardly deed.' Gardaí said the event was attended by leading dissidents from both sides of the border, including a number of Northern-based RIRA terrorists suspected of involvement in the murder of prison officer David Black.

 

'Anthony was in great form,' said a friend. 'He was fairly relaxed and was enjoying himself. He was chatting away to everyone - he's very down to earth and is always very friendly to everyone when he's home.' '

 

Stokes has been out of action with an ankle injury, picked up during a draw with Inter Milan in July. He had been expected to make a return to Celtic within 12 weeks but has not recovered as swiftly as hoped.

 

On October 30, he missed Celtic's 5-0 win over St. Johnstone in their Scottish Communities League Cup quarter-final clash.

 

The following day he tweeted: 'Great result last nite! Ankle is feeling good, hoping to start some very light jogging nxt week!!' Two nights later, on November 2, he boarded a plane to Dublin and went to Crumlin for the party.

 

Around 500 of Ryan's friends and associates, including 60 members of the RIRA, came from all over the country to pay tribute to the man responsible for at least two murders in the past two years - the shooting dead of criminal Seán Winters in Portmarnock in September 2010 and last September's gunning down of leading gangland figure Michael 'Mica' Kelly, in north Dublin. During his reign of terror, Ryan, 32, was the leader of the Dublin brigade of the RIRA.

 

He posed as an anti-drugs activist and family man but the fatherof-one was a thug who terrorised Dublin's north inner city.

 

Earlier this year, the gang boss - who was well known for his attention to his appearance and for his success with women - personally hacked off the fingers of a drug dealer in Fairview Park, north Dublin.

 

He was gunned down on September 3 close to his home in Grange Abbey Drive, Donaghmede.

 

On September 8, Ryan was given a full paramilitary funeral at which a volley of shots was fired over his coffin.

 

Last year, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed that Stokes's birth mother, Ann Byrne, gave him up for adoption to her sister Joan when he was two years old.

 

Ann said that Anthony 'always knew he was adopted'.

 

She said: 'When I gave Anthony to her - she wanted to do it properly so they legally adopted him and gave him their surname.

 

'In those days you just had to sign the papers and after that I never heard another thing about it,' she added.

 

alison.o'reilly@mailonsunday.ie

 

'Anthony always knew he was adopted'

[ian1964 10,565]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/footballer-anthony-stokes-joins-real-1460802

[ian1964 10,565]

A PROMINENT woman journalist has received chilling death threats from sympathisers of Real IRA terror boss Alan Ryan.

 

The crime reporter, who works for a national newspaper, received two threatening phone calls after Ryan sympathisers put her mobile number and other personal details on a memorial website last night.

 

Photos of the reporter, along with her email address, were also posted on the website, which led to thugs ringing her phone and threatening to kill her.

 

When the reporter became aware that her personal details had been posted online, she immediately contacted gardai.

 

A source said: “This is being taken extremely seriously – the journalist has given a full statement to gardai.

 

“A patrol car with armed detectives was placed outside her Dublin home last night. She will be given all necessary protection.”

 

The journalist’s partner said: “This is very worrying, of course it is, but she will not be intimidated by these people. She has already received two death threats on the phone and gardai are taking this very seriously.”

 

The reporter has written a number of articles about Alan Ryan since he was murdered in Clongriffin, north Dublin, in September.

 

In the last of these pieces she wrote about a fundraiser for the slain RIRA man which was held last month in the Submarine Bar in Crumlin in which she revealed that Celtic and Ireland football star Anthony Stokes (24) had attended the event.

 

This article seems to have particularly angered Ryan's associates, who took to the internet last night to post vile comments about the reporter.

 

At least one comment suggests that Ryan's sympathisers should find out where the reporter lives.

 

The threats against the reporter come as gardai investigating Ryan's murder released a man in his 50s who had been rearrested after being originally questioned about it just days after Ryan was shot dead. The man was picked up in north Dublin yesterday morning and quizzed at Coolock Garda Station but released without charge today.

 

He had been questioned about withholding information about the murder.

 

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...t-3310247.html