A man described as a “senior lieutenant” in the Kinahan organised crime gang has been sentenced to 24 years in prison at a Dublin court.
Sean McGovern pleaded guilty to two charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation relating to the deadly Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud in Ireland in which he was shot.
McGovern, 40, had been extradited from Dubai in May 2025 to face the charges and was flown back to Ireland on a military aircraft.
The charges relate to his involvement in the lead-up to the murder of Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead in December 2016, and the targeting and monitoring of James Gately with a view to having him shot dead, which did not happen.
A sentencing hearing for McGovern in May heard that he wanted to apologise for the hurt as a consequence of his actions.
At the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday, the three-judge panel sentenced him to 24 years – backdated to his arrest in Dubai in October 2024.
At the time Jim O’Callaghan, Ireland's Minister for Justice, welcomed news of an extradition and described it as “further evidence of the excellent criminal justice co-operation” Ireland and the UAE.
“In recent years, the UAE and Ireland have worked together to advance criminal investigations into serious and organised crime,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
Shortly after his arrest, Ireland and the UAE finalised an extradition treaty. Mr McGovern had earlier been named one of the seven senior figures in the Kinahan group named and placed under sanctions by US authorities.
After considering mitigating factors including an early plea, Mr Justice Patrick McGrath said the sentences for the separate offences should run consecutively.
McGovern was sentenced to 10 years for his role in directing activities relating to the planned murder of Mr Gately and 14 years for his role in the lead-up to the killing of Mr Kirwan.
Mr Justice McGrath said the court established that McGovern was a senior member of the Kinahan gang, who was a “confidant of those in the higher echelons” in the organisation who placed a “high degree of trust and competence” in him.
The judge said that the Kinahan gang was a “particularly large, well-organised sinister and dangerous organisation”.
He said the court had no doubt that McGovern, holding a relatively senior position of the gang, was fully aware of its identity, structure and nature.
“Mr McGovern knew in each instance he was directing preparations for murder and did so intentionally,” said Mr Justice McGrath.
The feud between Hutch-Kinahan crime groups shooting perpetrated by the Hutch gang at a weigh-in for boxing matches at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in February 2016, in which David Byrne was killed and others, including McGovern, were injured.
Detective Superintendent Dave Gallagher of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said the imprisonment should be a “lesson to those who glorify organised crime and promote it as a way of life”.
“Let the conviction and sentence of Mr McGovern today be a lesson to those who glorify organised crime and promote it as a way of life,” he said in a statement given after the sentencing. “There are no untouchables, and law enforcement is committed to the pursuit and prosecution of those who are the leaders, the decision makers and the facilitators.”
