Kinahan gang 'senior lieutenant' jailed for 24 years

A senior figure in a major organised crime gang has been sentenced to 24 years in prison at a court in Dublin.

Sean McGovern, 40, who has been described as a "senior lieutenant" in the Kinahan gang, pleaded guilty to two charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation relating to the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

The charges related to his involvement in the lead-up to the murder of Noel Kirwan, a grandfather who was fatally shot in December 2016, and the targeting and monitoring of James Gately with a plan to have him shot dead, which did not take place.

A three-judge panel sentenced McGovern to 24 years in prison, backdated to his arrest in Dubai in October 2024, at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday.

McGovern was sentenced to 10 years for his role in activities relating to the planned murder of Mr Gately and 14 years for his role in the killing of Mr Kirwan.

Justice Patrick McGrath said the sentences for the separate offences should run consecutively, after considering mitigating factors, including an early plea.

The court heard that there was no evidence Mr Kirwan was involved in crime, and he had been targeted because of a perceived connection to the rival Hutch gang, because he had been photographed at the funeral of a Hutch family member.

Mr Kirwan's son, Kristopher, accompanied by his sister, Donna, said outside court that his father was a "hardworking family man who spent our whole lives working two jobs, so we would never go without".

On McGovern, he said: "It's 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 on inflict such pain and torment on any other family.

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

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McGovern was wounded in a shooting at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in 2016, as part of the escalating Hutch-Kinahan feud.

Justice McGrath said McGovern was a senior member of the Kinahan gang, and a "confidant of those in the higher echelons" of the organisation, who placed a "high degree of trust and competence" in him.

He said the court held no doubt that McGovern was fully aware of the organisation's identity, structure and nature, as a senior figure.

Mr Justice McGrath said: "Mr McGovern knew in each instance he was directing preparations for murder and did so intentionally."

The judge said that the Kinahan gang was a "particularly large, well-organised, sinister and dangerous organisation".

A sentencing hearing for McGovern in May heard that he wanted to apologise for the hurt his actions had caused.

He had been extradited from the United Arab Emirates to face the charges.

(c) Sky News 2026: Kinahan gang 'senior lieutenant' jailed for 24 years