A ‘senior lieutenant’ in the notorious Kinahan drug cartel has been handed a 24-year sentence, after he ‘planned, oversaw and directed’ the murder of an innocent grandfather and the attempted murder of a second man.

Gardaí said Sean McGovern was involved in directing a criminal organisation in a ‘campaign of ruthless murder and violence’ and warned other gang members: ‘There are no untouchables.’

Christopher Kirwan, the son of Noel Kirwan, whose father was shot dead in the driveway of his Dublin home, said McGovern had ‘countless chances’ to change his mind but instead chose to inflict ‘pain and cruelty’.

The court heard McGovern had placed Mr Kirwan under surveillance after the latter was photographed at a funeral with the former’s gang rival Gerard Hutch, and had then kept Mr Kirwan’s assassins informed of his movements as the family man returned home to Clondalkin from a pre-Christmas dinner in December 2016.

Mr Kirwan, a friend of the Hutch family, was regarded as a ‘soft target’ for the gang, due to his lack of protection, and someone whose death would give the killer ‘confidence’, the court heard.

Judge Patrick McGrath of the Special Criminal Court said there was a need to protect society from the ‘nefarious and destructive’ actions of gangs such as the Kinahans and their rivals, the Hutch organised crime group.

He said it was therefore necessary to pass a sentence that would act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of becoming involved with such criminal organisations.

Meanwhile, gardaí involved in extraditing McGovern back to Ireland from Dubai, where he had been hiding out, warned that there were now ‘no untouchables’, and that the leaders of the gangs would be brought to justice.

Last summer, McGovern, 40, became the first person to be extradited from the United Arab Emirates to face trial in Ireland. He pleaded guilty to directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 20 and December 22, 2016, in relation to the murder of Christopher, aka Noel, Kirwan.

McGovern, with a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, had also admitted directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 17, 2015 and April 6, 2017, in connection with the surveillance of James Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence.

Mr Gately escaped being murdered following the intervention of gardaí, who arrested Estonian hitman Imre Arakas after he had been flown into Ireland to carry out the assassination.

The court heard that McGovern, a ‘senior lieutenant’ in the Kinahan gang, was himself injured during the infamous attack at the Regency Hotel in 2016.

David Byrne was shot dead during a boxing weigh-in at the north Dublin hotel by members of the Hutch gang posing as gardaí, though it is believed that Daniel Kinahan – who left early – was the intended target.

It was the third killing in the Hutch-Kinahan feud, a revenge attack for the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain in September 2015, but the feud escalated significantly thereafter.

From that point, McGovern described the feud as ‘personal’ and vowed on his ‘baby’s life’ to continue the killing. Judge McGrath said the attempt on the life of James Gately was ‘minutely and carefully planned in advance’.

He said McGovern was ‘a senior lieutenant’, and a longtime member of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group operating in Ireland. He was not a leader himself but was receiving instructions and sending information ‘up the chain’.

The judge said McGovern knew he was directing preparations for a murder, and that he had a high degree of culpability, but deducted 25% from a potential maximum sentence to reflect his guilty plea.

The court imposed a sentence of ten years for his role in the attempted murder of Mr Gately and 14 years for his role in the murder of Mr Kirwan.

The judge said that the sentences should be consecutive because the offences related to separate events. He sentenced McGovern to a total of 24 years in prison, backdated to the time he spent in a Dubai prison following his arrest in October 2024.

McGovern gave little reaction to the sentence, other than giving his supporters a wry smile as he was led from the court.

Speaking outside, Noel Kirwan’s son Christopher – alongside the deceased’s daughter Donna – said: ‘Today marks the end of a long and painful journey for me and my sister. For the past ten years we have sat in courtrooms and listened to evidence surrounding the cruel murder of our father. Nothing can ever bring him back, and nothing can undo the loss and trauma we have suffered.

‘In recent years, international co-operation made it possible for our dad’s murderer to be brought back to Ireland to finally face justice…We believe this case has made a difference and, in its own way, made history.’

Paying tribute to his father, he said: ‘Our dad was our safety net, a hard-working family man who spent our whole lives working two jobs so we wouldn’t go without.

‘He was all we had… He loved helping. Helping the community, helping the elderly. Helping anyone who needed it.’

He said his father had also been a huge part of the anti-drug movement in the inner city. He told reporters: ‘It’s heartbreaking to think that a man [McGovern] who has two children of his own, a man who himself survived being shot in the Regency Hotel, would go on to inflict such pain and torment on any other family.

‘He watched and tracked our dad for nine long months. He had countless chances to walk away, to change his mind, and to choose a different path, but he didn’t.

‘He and his partner fled the country shortly after, and in doing so lost the chance to stand at his own dad’s funeral. Was it really worth it, Sean?’

He said that while others were enjoying buying presents and celebrating the run-up to Christmas, McGovern was planning the murder of ‘a 62-year-old innocent man’.

He added: ‘The cruelty of that, the complete disregard for human life, the devastation that he left behind, is something that we will carry with us forever. One day Sean McGovern will be released, and get to spend the rest of his days with his family, while we will be out there surviving in a world we never planned to be a part of.’

Detective Superintendent Dave Gallagher of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said: ‘The sentencing today of Sean McGovern is significant in holding to account a key person who was engaged in directing the activities of a violent criminal organisation engaged in a campaign of ruthless murder and violence which impacted so negatively on our communities and Ireland’s national reputation.

‘I wish to pay tribute to the Kirwan family whose innocent father, Noel, was brutally murdered, for no other reason except to portray power in the criminal underworld, by Sean McGovern, working with and directing others, who believed they were untouchable.’

Det Supt Gallagher said the conviction was the result of An Garda Síochàna’s determination ‘to prioritise and relentlessly pursue those that engaged in violent and threats to life’.

He acknowledged the professional and diligent work carried out by the investigators, and the support provided by their international partners, particularly those colleagues in the United Arab Emirates, ‘as we all work in unison in our efforts to disrupt and dismantle national priority criminal organisations’.

He continued: ‘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. 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.

‘Our investigations are continuing, and I appeal to anybody with information on these crimes, please contact us in confidence on the Garda Confidential Line (1800 666 111) or at any Garda station.’