Ireland court sentences Kinahan operative to 24 years

A senior member of the Kinahan organized crime group has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for directing the gang's activities in a murder and an attempted murder plot during a violent feud. Sean McGovern, 40, was sentenced on Monday, June 8, 2026, at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, a three-judge, non-jury court.

McGovern had pleaded guilty in March to two charges of directing the activities of a criminal organization. The first charge related to the murder of 62-year-old grandfather Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead outside his home in Clondalkin in December 2016. The second charge involved the extensive surveillance of James Gately, a Hutch gang associate, between late 2015 and mid-2017, with the intention of having him killed.

In delivering the sentence, the court detailed McGovern's significant role. Evidence established that McGovern and others tracked Kirwan's movements for weeks using a device placed on his car. The judge stated Kirwan was targeted solely because of his personal links to the Hutch family, following his attendance at a Hutch family funeral. The murder was described as being carried out at the behest of the Kinahan cartel in retaliation for earlier...