The paperwork in the Conrad Gallagher extradition case is now complete and federal marshals will accompany the celebrity chef to Dublin as soon as that can be arranged, the US Assistant District Attorney in the New York eastern district, Ms Lara Treinis Gatz, said last night.
Mr Gallagher (32) has been held on an extradition warrant at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn since his arrest by federal marshals on April 10th outside his Manhattan bar, Traffic.
At a subsequent court hearing, he waived his right to contest extradition to face trial in Ireland on charges of stealing three paintings from the Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, the location of Mr Gallagher's Peacock Alley Restaurant.
The extradition order was issued after Mr Gallagher failed to turn up for trial in Dublin on October 15th.
Mr Gallagher will now be sent to Dublin "sometime in the next two weeks", Ms Gatz said.
Defence attorney Mr Douglas Morris has asked that Mr Gallagher be returned to Ireland as quickly as possible so he can continue treatment for testicular cancer.
Court documents filed in Brooklyn claim that Mr Gallagher sold the paintings for £9,000 to an auctioneer in Dublin, with a provision to buy them back for about £10,000 (€12,700). He did not buy them back and they were sold at auction and subsequently recovered, the court documents say.