The extradition of suspected organised crime boss Daniel Kinahan from the UAE to Ireland could take up to a year, an expert has said.
Legal challenges and security issues mean Kinahan, who was arrested last month by Dubai Police, is unlikely to be sent back to his home country quickly to face accusations he ran a multibillion-dollar drug operation.
Even if the alleged gang leader does not raise legal objections, the process is likely to take several months, said Ciaran Mulholland, principal solicitor and an extradition specialist at Mulholland Law, a legal practice in Ireland.
“The reality is nobody knows how long it’s going to be. I think it’s not going to be weeks,” he said. “It all depends on how the individual being sought, how he’s going to fight the extradition request. Is he going to challenge it?
“If he consents, things can move quite quickly. Given the individual being sought and the security arrangements, you would still be talking months.”
Landmark case
Kinahan’s case is the first to be dealt with under a UAE-Ireland extradition agreement that came into force in May last year. “While there’s an extradition treaty, if then an extradition request is made, that extradition warrant will summarise and underlie the charges [the suspect] have been sought for,” Mr Mulholland said.
Should, as is believed to be likely, Kinahan’s lawyers attempt to prevent his extradition, the process could stretch out far longer. Mr Mulholland said the probable timetable was about nine to 12 months.
While objections to prevent extradition can be raised, Mr Mulholland said the legal basis on which those could be brought was “quite narrow”. There are significant limits on challenging extradition on the basis of whether there is evidence of criminality.
Mr Mulholland said that when seeking a suspect’s extradition, the Irish authorities would have needed to present evidence about that person's alleged criminal activity that was sufficient to bring charges. They would be unable to request extradition simply to take a suspect for questioning.
Instead, Mr Mulholland said objections could be raised on human rights grounds or because the case was being brought for political reasons. For the extradition process to go ahead, it will have to be shown that the actions Kinahan is alleged to have carried out in Ireland are also against the law in the UAE.
If the extradition is approved by the UAE authorities, Mr Mulholland said there it would take about two weeks before Kinahan was flown back to Ireland.
Given the UAE and Ireland have an extradition agreement, Mr Mulholland said there was likely to be “political and judicial harmony” between the countries when dealing with the case.
As a solicitor, Mr Mulholland has been involved with organised crime cases before Ireland’s Special Criminal Court, where Kinahan is expected to appear.
Heightened security
Should it go ahead, Kinahan’s extradition would be a high-security operation. That was the case when one of his alleged associates, Sean McGovern, was extradited from the UAE to Ireland in May 2025. He had been arrested in Dubai in October 2024.
For McGovern’s extradition, members of the Irish police travelled to the UAE and he was handed over before being flown back on an Irish Air Corps aircraft to the Casement Aerodrome near Dublin. He was arrested after landing and taken under armed guard to the Special Criminal Court.
Mr Mulholland said similar procedures were likely to be followed if Kinahan is extradited. Even if he eventually appears at the court, it may be another year before any trial starts, according to UK media reports.
McGovern’s extradition did not take place under the UAE-Ireland extradition agreement, but instead happened on the basis of a one-off deal. In March, he admitted at the court to directing a criminal gang in relation to one man’s murder and another’s surveillance.
Gemma Davies, a barrister and an associate professor at Durham University in the UK, said there was a "judicial and diplomatic process that will have to be followed” before Kinahan can be extradited.
She said that, among other potential hurdles, sometimes assurances were required of the country requesting extradition. For example, it may seek confirmation that the suspect will not be further extradited to a third country.
