"All we know now is a fight to the end"

The burial of murdered Frankie Ryan took place yesterday amid horrible weather conditions and a heavy Garda presence.

Towards the end of the Funeral a disturbing poem was read out to the gathering written by the McCarthy-Dundon gang;an extract reads as follows,

'In Memory of a True Friend'
God above in heaven, why did his life end? Why did you let them take my friend? All we know now is a fight to the end. We have written this letter but have no address. Frankie, my brother, we are all left in a mess. We don't know what to say, but we all know what to do. Everything we do, we will think of you

It was read out by one of Frankie’s friends and signed by the following names:
Noddy, Christopher, Gareth, Wayne, John, Dessie and David.

Fr O'Dea, who presided over the funeral spoke at one point about revenge saying,

"From listening to Frank and Kay over the last few days, I know that they feel a justified sense of anger towards those who took, and were behind the taking, of Frankie's life, Even though they are feeling a sense of raw anger, they are able to say that they do not want revenge. They are able to see clearly through their awful anguish that revenge is futile. I make this appeal to anybody tempted to take the path of revenge, tempted to take the path of retaliation, to heed Frank and Kay's words - that revenge and retaliation is futile. It is not the way forward. Those who seek revenge take the path of weakness,"

Gardai will remain on a very high state of alert in all the major flashpoints for the coming months.