Man released following reports GSOC member attended Gerry Hutch party

A man has been released following his arrest as part of an investigation into reports that a Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) member attended a party after the acquittal of Gerry Hutch.

The man in his 60s was released without charge and a file will now be prepared for the office of the director of public prosecutions.

Reports emerged last week that an officer at GSOC attended a party with Hutch, known as the Monk, the day he was acquitted of the 2016 Regency hotel murder of David Byrne, in what became the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

The Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation unit searched a home in Dublin as they arrested the man.

He had been detained on suspicion of an offence contrary to section 81, Garda Siochana Act 2005.

That section relates to members of the Ombudsman Commission disclosing information obtained in carrying out the duties of that person’s office if the disclosure is likely to have a harmful effect.