Three arrested in Kevin McGuigan murder probe

The three men aged 53, 44, and 41 were arrested at three different locations around Belfast this morning and have been taken to the serious crime suite in the city.

Three men have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan.

Two masked gunmen shot him outside his home at Comber Court in the Short Strand area.

Suggestions have been made that Mr McGuigan was a chief suspect in the murder of former IRA man Gerard “Jock” Davison in May but DCI McVea previously said he was interviewed “as a potential witness as opposed to a potential suspect”.

Relatives of McGuigan have blamed his death on people connected to the Provisional IRA, who were supposed to have decommissioned all their weapons and disbanded back in 2005.

One of Mr McGuigan’s sons, Kevin McGuigan jnr, has also been warned by police that he may be under threat from republicans.

The former IRA member had stepped up security in recent months and spent time living away from his Short Strand home as a result.

Requiem Mass for Mr McGuigan is to be held at St Matthew’s Church in Bryson Street in Belfast at 12:00 BST.

Both the PSNI and Sinn Féin have said speculation that mainstream IRA members were behind the killing of McGuigan was unhelpful, reckless and unsafe.