Gardai play waiting game to nab key Kinahan cartel leader

Sean McGovern, a key ally of mob boss Daniel Kinahan, arrested by authorities in Dubai last October – but he has still not been sent back to his native Dublin

Gardai are playing a waiting game – to see when a United Arab Emirates court agrees to extradite a Kinahan cartel leader to Ireland, Commissioner Drew Harris has admitted.

“It’s subject to judicial examination, and we await just the result of that,” he said of Ireland’s request to have the UAE kick Sean McGovern out of the oil-rich Middle Eastern State. McGovern, 38, was arrested by authorities in Dubai last October on foot of an extradition request by Irish authorities over two serious Kinahan cartel crimes – but he has still not been sent back to his native Dublin.The extradition request came after the Director of Public Prosecutions ordered that Crumlin native McGovern, a key ally of mob boss Daniel Kinahan, 47, be charged with a gang offence – and a murder. He is to be charged with directing a crime gang in Ireland – an offence that can carry a life sentence upon conviction.But he is also to be charged over the December 2016 murder of Noel Kirwan, 62, shot dead outside his home in Clondalkin, west Dublin. Innocent Mr Kirwan was targeted because he was seen walking with Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, 62 at the funeral of his murdered brother Eddie Hutch.Eddie, 58, was shot dead at his home in inner city Dublin on February 8, 2016 – three days after the Hutch gang killed Kinahan ally David Byrne, 34, in the daylight gun attack on the city’s Regency Airport Hotel. The Monk was later charged with Byrne’s murder – but was acquitted after a sensational trial in front of the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin