Gardaí investigating the gangland feud in Dublin have said they have prevented five murders since the start of the year.

€40m in extra funding has been announced for the force – which the Tanaiste says is being built up yearly.

Since September, seven men have lost their lives in the gangland feud.

But gardaí say they have prevented further murders from happening.

Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan heads up the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau; “We have certainly thwarted quite a number of assassination attempts, on individuals.

“People have been arrested in the process of travelling to kill people.”

144 men and women have joined the force this afternoon – graduating as probationer gardaí.

It comes as the Tanaiste’s announced an extra €40m in funding for Gardaí.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald says the force is not lacking resources; “The gardaí are already spending money on overtime because the Government has made it clear over recent months that they should do that because they need to that in response to the criminal activity that we have seen which is unprecedented in its audacity.”

Minister Fitzgerald says she hopes to accelerate garda recruitment each year to bring the force to 15,000 by 2019.