'Feud killers are the living dead' priest tells Derek Hutch funeral
A priest has branded the perpetrators of gangland warfare "the living dead".
At the funeral of one of 14 victims of the Hutch-Kinahan feud, mourners were told that everyone had become vulnerable to the reign of violence.
Derek Coakley Hutch, 27, was shot dead outside Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin 10 days ago.
As his family waked him in their north inner city home, an associate, Jason Molyneaux, also 27, was shot dead less than a mile away after paying his own respects.
Locals reported how he was due to carry the coffin of "Delboy" Hutch at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sean McDermott Street.
Fr Michael Casey told mourners that gang warfare was evil.
"Those with hardened closed hearts have cut themselves of from life's source, which is compassion, forgiveness, being reconciled," he said.
"They have become living dead.
"They and their actions and the dark world they inhabit has no place in this sacred place nor indeed in this community.
"Thou shall not kill remains, thou shall not kill."
Derek Hutch, who was also known as Derek Coakley Hutch, was a father-of-two and is survived by his mother Noleen, his partner Nikita, his children and his brother Nathan. His burial took place in Glasnevin Cemetery.
He was a nephew of Gerry "The Monk" Hutch whose family and associates have been targeted since late 2015 when Gary Hutch was murdered on the Costa del Sol after the Kinahan cartel reportedly suspected he had become an informer.
A large garda presence surrounded the funeral.
Addressing mourners Fr Casey said: "We must not forget who we are.
"We are children of light not of darkness. We are called to be peacemakers, not people of violence."
Fr Casey said the area around the Sean McDermott Street parish - the site of several murders linked to the feud - was a place where decent people tried to live their lives as best they could.
He said the murder had wreaked havoc, pain, suffering and devastation on a family and community and said it could not be justified.
"This reign of violence and total disrespect for human life carried out by people who have become soulless is frightening and leaves us all vulnerable," he said.
"This spiral of violence, revenge, retaliation and the ensnarement of many in this web of what can only be described as evil has led to the destruction of the most precious gift, that of life itself and our call to be human."
