Irish police believe that so-called Real IRA members are arming themselves for revenge on Alan Ryan's enemies.

Just six hours before Ryan's funeral a raid was staged on a registered gun shop.

According to the Herald, police have called the raid a 'major guns robbery' and it is feared that the cache of deadly weapons is already in Dublin.

'This is potentially very serious. There could well be a connection between this robbery and Ryan’s crew,' a source told the Herald.

Over two dozen high-velocity rifles and shotguns were taken during the robbery, which occurred in Ashford, County Wicklow.

Two of the stolen guns were quickly found in a stolen vehicle in the South Inner City, intensifying fears of a coming gang war.

'These weapons are very dangerous but it is particularly alarming given that we don't know whose hands the guns have fallen into,' a source reportedly said.

One suspect, a convicted criminal who was present at Ryan's funeral nine days ago, is currently being questioned. The man, who is reportedly in his thirties, is understood to have had significant knowledge of the shop where the guns were stolen and is suspected of passing on information to those who carried out the robbery.

'Some of the weapons are more advanced than others but the underlying thing is they can all kill,' a police spokesperson told the Herald.

Police raids at 30 different locations in Dublin, Meath, and Kildare have reportedly yielded a substantial haul of new intelligence, with evidence of connections between members of the group and other serious criminal offenses.

Fourteen of the seventeen suspects arrested in last week's raids were released without charge the following day, but Irish police have insisted that their inquiries are progressing well.