Dozens of bikers staged a show of strength at the funeral of 29-year-old James Whelan (aka Whela) who was shot dead in a suspected gangland feud in Finglas, north Dublin.
The bikers did doughnuts, wheelies and revved before, during and after Mr Whelan’s funeral at River Mount Parish church in Finglas.
Hundreds of local people lined the route to the church and were frequently enveloped in smoke from the motorbikes. Many of the motorcyclists wore “RIP Whela” t-shirts.
The funeral Mass was punctuated by the sound of motorbikes revving up outside the church while a Garda helicopter hovered overhead.
Hundreds of locals lined the route for the funeral cortege which was headed by a videographer screening the funeral live and a saxophone player.
The gold-coloured coffin containing the remains of Mr Whelan were carried in a horse-drawn hearse pulled by four horses wearing black feathered plumes.
Three horse-drawn carriages followed on afterwards carrying funeral wreaths. As the cortege approached the church a man shouted out to “kill the bikes” and the hearse proceeded in silence to the entrance.
The chief mourners were Mr Whelan’s partner Jean and son King Parker The Boss
Mr Whelan was gunned down on Deanstown Avenue just before 4.30am on Sunday April 3rd. The main suspects for the killing are a local drugs gang led by a Finglas man in his 20s who has emerged as a senior gangland figure in recent years. Mr Whelan’s death is the first killing in an escalating gang feud in the suburb.
Parish priest Fr Seamus Aherne told the congregation that he had been in the Finglas West area for 25 years.
In that time he had seen “too many murders and the sheer awfulness of this is horrifying”. Too many people had died as a result of drugs. The people who had killed Mr Whelan were “sick, sad and stupid”.
There should be no tolerance for this kind of viciousness “ever” he added.
He made reference to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the sanctions imposed on the Kinahan cartel by US authorities on Tuesday. Sanctions should also be imposed on all those who deal in drugs, he added.
A man on a horse rode up and down the street while the funeral was proceeding. Crowds on the street broke into applause as the hearse left the church after the funeral. The hearse was preceded by a phalanx of motorcyclists.
Mr Whelan’s last journey to the cemetery was filmed by a man filming from the sun roof of an SUV.
