Sean McGovern, a senior leader in the Kinahan organised crime gang serving a 24-year sentence in Portlaoise Prison, has issued legal proceedings against the State.
McGovern’s application for a High Court judicial review was published by the Courts Service on Wednesday. The details of McGovern’s complaint have not been made public.
The governor of Portlaoise Prison, the Irish Prison Service and the Minister for Justice were listed as defendants in the case.
The application for a judicial review was lodged by McGovern’s solicitor Wayne Kenny. Kenny’s offices were contacted for comment.
McGovern was extradited to Ireland from the United Arab Emirates in 2025 and was sentenced to a total of 24 years in prison for criminal activities.
The 40-year-old father of two young girls pleaded guilty to directing the cartel’s murder of “soft target” Noel Kirwan (62) in December 2016, and directing an unsuccessful plot to murder Hutch gang associate James “Mago” Gately between 2015 and 2017.
McGovern is expected to serve at least 16 years of the 24-year prison sentence.
His jail term is among the longest gangland prison terms, outside of murder cases, imposed by an Irish court since John Gilligan – whose gang murdered Veronica Guerin in 1996 – was initially sentenced to 28 years in 2001. This was later reduced on appeal.
Det Supt Dave Gallagher of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, led by Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland, said the conviction and sentence of McGovern proved “there are no untouchables” in Irish organised crime.
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McGovern’s former home in Dublin was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in March 2019 and purchased by Dublin City Council.
McGovern had bought the property in 2015 for €150,000 from Investec Bank in Mauritius via a trust company. He spent €247,000 on renovations.
Both the purchase and renovations were found to be funded by the proceeds of crime. Days before the house was seized, it was vandalised.
McGovern has been joined in Portlaoise Prison since August 9th by Daniel Kinahan, who was also extradited from the UAE.
The 49-year-old was flown to Ireland on a Government jet and immediately taken to the Special Criminal Court, where he was charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation.