One of the most senior figures in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, who is wanted in Ireland to face charges of murder and involvement with a criminal gang, is being extradited from the United Arab Emirates.
Sean McGovern, who was named in the Special Criminal Court as one of the leaders of the group, is on a Defence Forces military aircraft to Ireland.
The 39-year-old, who gardaí say is Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man, is wanted for the murder of Noel Kirwan, an innocent man who was shot dead as part of the Hutch-Kinahan feud in December 2016.
Mr McGovern is the first person to be extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Ireland.
He has been in custody for over seven months and is being escorted back to Ireland by gardaí who are expected to formally arrest him when his plane lands here, and charge him before the Special Criminal Court.
A European Arrest Warrant has already been issued by the High Court.
The Irish Air Corps Airbus C295 plane which is bringing him back left Casement Aerodrome in Dublin on Monday morning.
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It stopped in Marseilles in France and Larnaca in Cyprus before arriving in Dubai on Tuesday afternoon.
It flew out of Al Maktoum International Airport at around 8pm Irish time last night with Mr McGovern on board, escorted by gardaí and military personnel.
The plane is expected to land at Casement Aerodrome today.
Mr McGovern was arrested by police in Dubai on 10 October 2024 on foot of an Interpol red notice, a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
He has been contesting his extradition since, but the fact that he has been put on an Irish military plane and is being flown back to Ireland is evidence that he has lost that fight and that extradition proceedings in the UAE have now concluded.
Interpol described Mr McGovern as "one of Ireland's most wanted fugitives" and said the red notice was published to support the ongoing collaboration between the Irish and UAE authorities.
It also confirmed that Mr McGovern is wanted for charges including murder and directing an organised crime group.
A week after his arrest last year former minister for justice Helen McEntee travelled to Abu Dhabi and signed extradition and mutual assistance treaties between Ireland and United Arab Emirates.
Mr McGovern is one of the seven senior figures in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group named and sanctioned by the US authorities.
He was shot and injured in the gun attack at Regency Hotel in Dublin in February 2016, in which his friend and fellow gang member David Byrne was shot dead.
The murder escalated the Hutch-Kinahan feud, which has cost 18 lives.
One of those victims was Mr Kirwan, who was shot dead three days before Christmas in 2016 outside his home in west Dublin.
He was targeted by the Kinahan gang because he appeared in a photograph alongside Gerard Hutch, the man known as the Monk, at the funeral of Gerard's brother Eddie, another victim of the feud.
Originally from Drimnagh in Dublin, McGovern was part of the Byrne Organised Crime Group, the Dublin faction of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group
He was targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau and his assets, including his house in Crumlin, were seized.
He, along with Liam Byrne and other gang members, left the country and he relocated alongside Christy senior, Daniel and Christopher Kinahan in Dubai.
The extradition, the first of its kind between Ireland and the UAE, will go some way to change the perception here of Dubai, which has previously been seen as a place of safety for wanted criminals and international drug traffickers.
The leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group - Christy senior, Daniel and Christopher junior - fled there from the Costa del Sol in 2016 to avoid potential extradition to Ireland when the Spanish authorities began working closely with gardaí investigating the feud murders.
Other senior Kinahan gang members, including Ian Dixon, John Morrissey, Bernard Clancy and Mr McGovern, also based themselves in Dubai.
All seven were subsequently sanctioned by the US authorities and a $5m reward was offered for information leading to the conviction of each of the three Kinahans.
Gardaí say the extradition of Mr McGovern increases the pressure on others in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, particularly the three leading family members.
Files on a number of other senior gang members, including Daniel Kinahan, have been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is considering whether criminal charges should be preferred against them.
