Alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan has been moved to a 200-year-old high-security prison before his trial, one of the most anticipated in Ireland's history.
The 49-year-old is being kept at Portlaoise Prison, which was used to house IRA inmates who were guarded by Irish Army troops patrolling with anti-aircraft machine guns.
He was taken there after appearing at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Sunday night following his extradition from the UAE.
Mr Kinahan had been taken directly to the court after the Irish government jet used to return him from Dubai landed at a military airbase on the outskirts of Dublin.
Amid tight security for a highly unusual Sunday-night court sitting, he was charged with directing a criminal organisation. He was immediately remanded in custody.
He is expected to go on trial next year in the Special Criminal Court, which sits with three judges and no jury. The system was introduced to prevent jury interference in terrorism trials but remains in place to deal with cases involving organised crime.
Mr Kinahan will be taken to and from prison in a bomb and bulletproof van, which was bought by the Irish prison service before his extradition to transport high-risk suspects.
His notoriety and the extent of the criminality he is alleged to have been involved in will make the trial one of the most high profile in Irish legal history.
Before the trial, Mr Kinahan will be housed on a landing in A Block that would normally be used to accommodate about eight prisoners but has been cleared for him, the Irish Times reported.
A gym with free weights and a treadmill has been set up, with a rowing machine expected to be added. A library has also been put in place for him.
His next appearance at the court, in person or by video link, is due on October 5. If he applies for bail, a separate hearing will take place at the High Court, though he admitted he was unlikely to be successful.
“I think we know I won't be getting bail, but thank you so much for explaining,” he told the Special Criminal Court.
In the meantime, Mr Kinahan will settle into life at the prison, where he is expected to spend around 20 hours each day in his cell, with his only contact being officers.
Meals will be delivered to his cell, but he will also have access to a tuck shop account. His family can lodge money so he can buy items in the prison shop.
Mr Kinahan gave an interview by phone from Dubai to the podcaster James English before his extradition, suggesting he was looking forward to familiar Irish treats. “Get back home and have a little bit of batch bread and a packet of King crisps,” he said.
Each day, he will be allowed out alone into the exercise yard, which is the first in an Irish prison to be fitted with wire netting to stop contraband from being thrown in for prisoners.
Mr Kinahan was named by the US in 2022 as one of three alleged leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. His organisation is said to be worth more than $1 billion.
The gang had gone from dealing heroin and cocaine in Dublin in the 1990s to operating across Europe, according to Irish police.
Mr Kinahan left Ireland in 2016, initially for Spain, in the wake of the escalation of the feud with the rival Hutch family criminal gang.
He became involved in boxing promotion via his now defunct boxing management company MTK Global, which represented more than 100 boxers including Tyson Fury and Carl Frampton.
Mr Kinahan was the target of a shooting by the Hutch gang at a weigh-in for boxing matches at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in February 2016. The death of Kinahan criminal associate David Byrne led to further killings.
Earlier this year, a “senior lieutenant” in the Kinahan organised crime gang was sentenced to 24 years in prison at a Dublin court for offences relating to the deadly Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud in Ireland, during which he was shot.
Sean McGovern pleaded guilty to two charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation after being extradited from Dubai in May 2025.
