Seán McGovern sat impassively in the Special Criminal Court as he was described as a “senior lieutenant” in Ireland of the Kinahan organised crime group.
Evidence was heard on Monday of McGovern’s role during the deadly feud that erupted in 2014 between the Kinahan gang and the rival Hutch organised crime group.
During a sentencing hearing, the three-judge court was told McGovern (40) was involved over months in tracking Dubliner Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead in his car seconds after arriving at his Clondalkin, Dublin, home on December 22nd, 2017.
Kirwan (62), who knew the Hutch family from childhood and was featured in a newspaper photograph attending the funeral of murder victim Eddie Hutch, had no involvement in crime and was an “easy target”, Det Sgt Donal Daly said.
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Evidence also linked McGovern with devices used to track James “Mago” Gately, whom the Kinahan gang believed had been involved in the February 2016 Regency hotel attack. Kinahan gang member David Byrne was killed and McGovern was wounded in that incident.
Det Supt David Gallagher said McGovern was “discussing targets” with a man referred to as “Cap” two days after the Regency attack.
McGovern told “Cap”: “They targeted us, they wanted you, this is personal.”
McGovern added: “I swear on my baby’s life, I’m not stopping now.”
Other evidence from PGP (pretty good privacy) messages linked McGovern with an Estonian “hitman for hire”, Imre Arakas, who arrived in Dublin on April 3rd, 2017, the court was told.
Arakas, known as “The Butcher”, was arrested by gardaí the following day at a house at Blakestown Cottages in Dublin 15 linked to the Kinahan gang.
Gardaí recovered a piece of paper with Estonian writing on which the name “James Gately” and an address was written. Messages on an encrypted Blackberry phone used by Arakas were accessed and photographed by gardaí before they were deleted remotely.
After Arakas’s arrest, communications showed McGovern and others were discussing the consequences of it, Gallagher said.
A man with the handle Bon New had said “we have to change tactics” and McGovern had replied: “100 per cent or we’re all going to jail, we need to get the f*** out of here.”
The three-judge court will hear further evidence on Friday before sentencing McGovern, who last month pleaded guilty to two counts of directing organised crime during the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
He was arrested in Dubai in October 2024 and in May 2025 became the first Irish criminal to be extradited from United Arab Emirates.
Wearing a black shirt and jeans, McGovern was brought to the Courts of Criminal Justice on Monday amid tight security.
With a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, he has pleaded guilty to directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 20th and December 22nd, 2016, in relation to the murder of Christopher “Noel” Kirwan.
He also admitted directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 17th, 2015, and April 6th, 2017, in connection with the surveillance of Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence.
Gallagher, involved in investigating the Kinahan criminal group over years, described McGovern as “a senior lieutenant” in the gang operating on the ground in Ireland.
He agreed with McGovern’s barrister Michael Bowman that McGovern is “three tiers” down in the organisation’s structure with “significant people” above him.
