Sign up here<\/strong><\/a>. If you don’t like our group you can leave it at any time<\/p>\nKinahan is being held on the A Block of the maximum security prison – and is isolated from other prisoners on his landing.<\/p>\n
McGovern (40), who was extradited from Dubai in May 2025, received a 10-year prison sentence for directing a criminal organisation in the surveillance of Hutch associate James \u2018Mago\u2019 Gately between 2015 and 2017 – and a further 14 years for directing the gang in the murder of innocent father of two Noel \u2018Duck Egg\u2019 Kirwan on December 22, 2016.<\/p>\n
Following the sentence Christopher Kirwan directly addressed his father\u2019s killer and asked him if his actions – which have resulted in him being jailed for the next two decades, are really worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking to think that a man who has two children of his own, a man who himself survived being shot in the Regency Hotel, could go and inflict such pain and torment on any other family,” he said.<\/p>\n
“He watched and tracked our Dad for nine long months, with countless chances to walk away, to change his mind and just chose a different path. But he didn\u2019t. He and his partner fled the country shortly after and in doing so lost the chance to stand at his own Dad\u2019s funeral. Was it really worth it Sean?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
He also spoke of the pain and loss that he and his sister Donna, who have campaigned for justice for over 10 years, have felt.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday marks the end of a long and painful journey for me and my sister. The past 10 years of sitting in court rooms and listening to evidence about the brutal murder of our father. Nothing can ever bring him back and no verdict can ever undo the loss and trauma we have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n
In sentencing McGovern in the Special Criminal Court, presiding Judge Patrick McGrath ordered that both sentences be served consecutively – meaning he was sentenced to a total of 24 years. This was also backdated to when he first went into custody in Dubai Prison in October of 2024.<\/p>\n
Judge McGrath, who described McGovern as a “trusted lieutenant” of the cartel, cited the “particularly callous” nature of the plot to murder Mr Kirwan – and highlighted an encrypted message uncovered by Gardai in which he told associates about “putting the teeth on the Duck to get his confidence back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Teeth,\u2019 the court had heard, was a cartel hitman, and Mr Kirwan – who was identified by the cartel after he was seen attending the funeral of murder victim Eddie Hutch, was \u201can easy victim,\u201d the Judge said.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2_JS408921146-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Noel Kirwan’s son Kristopher speaking to the media outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin after Sean McGovern, described as a “senior lieutenant” in the Kinahan organised crime gang, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. (Image: Niall Carson\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_6485eab8-d965-46e1-b912-f1bce4dc7acb.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sean McGovern. <\/p>\n
The Special Criminal Court heard back in April after McGovern pleaded guilty, of encrypted conversations immediately following the Regency Hotel attack, in which cartel lieutenant David Byrne was shot dead. During these conversations, McGovern vowed:<\/p>\n
\u201cThey targeted us, this is personal. On my baby\u2019s life, I\u2019m not stopping now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also spoke in private messages uncovered by gardai from devices seized from him that he and other senior members of the Kinahan cartel could\u2019ve been totally wiped out that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could have been the six of us and they could have wiped out the whole bloodline,\u201d McGovern said.<\/p>\n
Describing McGovern as a \u201cserious lieutenant and long term member\u201d of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, Judge McGrath said he knew he was directing a murder – and this was a particularly aggravating factor.<\/p>\n
“It is clear from the evidence that the Kinahan organised crime group is a particularly large, sinister and dangerous organisation,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n
Judge McGrath told the court that the surveillance of Mr Gately – who was residing in a flat in Belfast in March 2017 and who the cartel had a tracker placed on his car, was \u201cminutely and carefully planned in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigating gardai obtained meticulous evidence including CCTV, phone and GPS data as well as evidence from seized encrypted phones that were using a \u2018Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) service to communicate their murder plots.<\/p>\n
Recalling the evidence given in court by Detective Superintendent David Gallagher and Detective Sergeant Donal Daly, Judge McGrath stated that McGovern\u2019s involvement in the surveillance of Mago Gately began as far back as October 18 2015.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5_01KZM78KWQB9JCBJHXNJWMY8N8.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Daniel Kinahan (back, right) leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, where he was remanded in custody charged with directing an organised crime group, after being extradited from Dubai. (Image: Mark Marlow\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_Side-by-side-template-26-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
A huge security operation took place for the extradition of Daniel Kinahan<\/p>\n
The plot, he said, included the importation of tracking devices and placing them on vehicles belonging to family members of the Hutch Organised Crime member in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.<\/p>\n
Estonian hitman Imre Arakas was ultimately flown in by the cartel to \u201ctarget and kill James Gately,\u201d he told the court – and as a result the PSNI contacted him and told him of the imminent threat to his life. The tracking device – which McGovern and Keating had been captured on CCTV delivering and the latter placing on Gately\u2019s car in Belfast, was found and seized by investigators.<\/p>\n
The pair were caught on CCTV and later GPS data, the court heard, driving their Peugeot Partner van from Dublin Airport to the College Court apartments, where they surveilled Gately\u2019s movements on two occasions.<\/p>\n
The communication clearly showed McGovern was “formulating a plan as to how to get to Mr Gately,” Judge McGrath told the court. He also spoke of the evidence given in court about the existence of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group – and how McGovern was feeding information up the chain of command.<\/p>\n
![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6_SeanMcGovern.png\")
<\/p>\n
Sean McGovern has been sentenced at the Special criminal Court in Dublin <\/p>\n
![\"PIC](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7_Sean-McGovern-kinahan-dubai.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sean McGovern(Image: Mick O’Neill)<\/p>\n
Teams were being assembled by other persons on the direction of others higher up in the organisation, he said, and it was accepted in evidence that McGovern – who was \u201cthree tiers down in the group\u201d\u2014might not have necessarily known who the assassins were.<\/p>\n
The Judge added however that the evidence established that McGovern was \u201ca significant individual in his own right operating from Ireland.”<\/p>\n
In relation to the murder of Mr Kirwan, the Judge said that he was targeted “solely because of his personal links to the Hutch family,\u201d and he \u201cwas perceived as an easy target.”<\/p>\n
The evidence gathered established the “significant role” of McGovern in the planning of the murder, Judge McGrath said.<\/p>\n
A tracking device was purchased in England and handed to McGovern on November 3rd, 2016. It was initially placed on Mr Kirwan\u2019s then BMW – and later swapped to his new car after he traded it in, on December 20th.<\/p>\n
GPS data from the tracking device which was ultimately seized by gardai showed that the settings were changed by the owner shortly before the killing to report Mr Kirwan\u2019s location every 30 seconds.<\/p>\n
“This obviously enabled those monitoring the movements of this device to more precisely monitor its location and progress,\u201d the Judge said.<\/p>\n
The evidence showed that it was McGovern who did this – and a reasonable inference could also be drawn that he made a call from a burner phone directly to those carrying out the murder in the minutes beforehand, the Judge said.<\/p>\n
Judge McGrath specifically referenced an encrypted message from \u2018Knife\u2019 to another member of the crime group about “putting the teeth on the Duck to get his confidence back,” a reference to putting a hitman on Noel Kirwan.<\/p>\n
He also mentioned the victim impact statement of Donna Kirwan – a daughter of Mr Kirwan, describing him as a “harrowing man who went out of his way for his family. \u201cShe described his loss as unbearable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Judge then cited the evidence of Detective Sergeant Daly who said that McGovern \u201cplanned, oversaw and directed the murder of Noel Kirwan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives… To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McGovern, who was recently jailed for 24 years, lodged papers through his solicitor Wayne Kenny, seeking a judicial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[956,9,10,55617,55616,18,13,14,55620,6,19,17,39379,55615,11,12,15,16,5,4614,77141,7,8],"class_list":["post-646774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-christy-kinahan","tag-daniel-kinahan","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gerry-the-monk-hutch","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-prison-service","tag-kinahan-gang","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-plus","tag-portlaoise-prison","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117126397487998205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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