Sean McGovern: Who is he and how did he rise to the top of the Kinahan Cartel?

Sunday World

29-05-2025

Sean McGovern has been extradited to Ireland to face murder charges, but how did he get so close to Daniel Kinahan?
When Sean McGovern landed in the UAE in 2017, he was greeted with open arms by Daniel Kinahan who looked after him and set him up in a plush apartment in Dubai's Marian District.
Like many other footsoldiers in the Kinahan Cartel's bloody war with the Hutch gang, McGovern had decided to get out of Dublin as the garda's net started to close in on the gang.
But unlike many other gang members who were forgotten about when they were no longer useful, McGovern was taken into the bosom of the Cartel leadership.
The once-unremarkable street thug would go on to become Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man – his most trusted criminal confidante who effectively managed the international cocaine trade for the cartel.
But who is Sean McGovern? And how did he rise to the top of the Kinahan Cartel?
Born on February 12th 1986, to parents Desmond and Terry McGovern, Sean grew up in Crumlin where he forged friendships with Liam and David Byrne as well as their cousins Liam Roe and Liam Brannigan.
By the late 90s, the Byrne brothers were already serious players in Dublin's drugs trade and were a top target for gardai.
In 2001, the Byrne's other childhood pal, Declan Gavin, was brutally stabbed to death by Brian Rattigan, sparking the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud.
McGovern would side with the Byrnes and would stay loyal to them throughout the bloody war fought out on Dublin's streets.
Over the next decade, Ireland's cocaine boom would see the Byrne Organised Crime Gang – led by Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh from his UK base – make a fortune and rise to the top of the criminal underworld.
Gardai believe the gang used the second-hand car business to launder huge amounts of drug money.
Sean McGovern
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In 2015, McGovern was made the director of LS Active Car Sales, a business set up by Liam Byrne in June 2013 to launder their dirty drug money.
While his fellow cartel members were often mentioned in the pages of the newspapers, McGovern remained relatively unknown to the public.
But everything changed on February 5th 2016, when a shooting at a boxing weigh-in in the Regency hotel put a spotlight on the cartel, and its members.
As a five-man hit team stormed the event in search of Daniel Kinahan, a gunman wearing fake Garda tactical gear shot McGovern once in the stomach.
Although injured, he disguised himself among the crowd and walked out of the hotel, on his way he passed another gunman who didn't notice him.
The Regency Hotel shooting in 2016 led to the outbreak of the Hutch-Kinahan feud, which was followed by a spike in gangland murders. Photo: Colin O'Riordan
McGovern was hospitalised but released days later. He refused to co-operate with the Garda investigation, and wouldn't give them any information.
His childhood pal, David Byrne, was shot dead by one of the hitmen, dying alone on the floor at the hotel's reception desk.
The Hutch/Kinahan feud, which claimed up to 18 lives, escalated following the attack, as the Kinahans vowed vengeance.
In the weeks after the shooting, a Twitter (now X) account popped up under the username '@SaorSean'.
The profile detailed aspects of the Regency Hotel plot, as well as following and tagging the accounts of Daniel Kinahan, Gary Finnegan and other well-known members of the gang.
In public posts, the Hutch gang and family were being threatened, bringing it to the attention of the Gardai and crime reporters alike.
One sinister post read: 'Hutch/Kinahan feud – who are most in danger of being liquidated next? Reports coming in hourly!'
The account was eventually suspended but re-emerged under the username '@seerscryer'. In private messages to journalists, the person behind the account claimed to be an 'intelligence officer' with a particular interest in Dublin's underworld, and in Christy Kinahan Snr.
A garda investigation uncovered that the Kinahan cartel had their own network of online bloggers, who leaked information to national media as part of a communications strategy.
It was eventually concluded that Sean McGovern was running the account on behalf of his boss, which is how he forged a deep friendship with Daniel Kinahan and elevated himself to the position of his right-hand man.
His hard work sucking up to the kingpin soon paid off as he was welcomed to the Kinahan bolthole in the UAE following the murder of Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan.
Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan was killed after attending the funeral of a Hutch family member
Kirwin became the 12th victim of the bloody feud when he was shot dead outside his home in Ronanstown, Co Dublin, in December 2016.
The 62-year-old had no involvement with either faction in the feud, but was targeted after he was spotted at the funeral of Eddie Hutch, the older brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, who had been shot dead three days following the Regency attack.
In December 2018, Jason Keating was handed down ten years in prison for assisting in the killing.
In 2024, two more men, Michael Crotty and Declan Brady, were jailed for their roles in Kirwin's death.
Meanwhile, in July 2022, Martin Aylmer was handed down eight years and four months behind bars for his role in the killing, and for the attempted murder of Hutch associate James 'Mago' Gately.
McGovern was also arrested in connection with the plot to kill Gately and quizzed by the Gardai.
James 'Mago' Gately
He was released without charge, and this is when he took his chance and fled to Dubai with his family.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Assets Bureau were mopping up the spoils of the cartel's ill-gotten gains.
An investigation into McGovern's finances led to the seizure of the house where he lived with his partner Anita Freeman and their two children,
He paid for the house with €155,000 in cash, which was wired from Mauritius to a bank in Ireland.
The investigation also found that Anita was receiving a rent subsidy payment from the local council, which she was paying into Liam Byrne's bank account.
The home on the Kildare Road, which was extensively renovated, but had its fixtures and fittings, including the bathrooms and kitchen, ripped out before CAB were handed over the keys.
Despite his financial woes, Sean McGovern's allegiance to Daniel Kinahan didn't waver.
A wanted poster of Christopher Kinahan Jr, Daniel Kinahan and Christopher Kinahan
In April 2022, a press conference was held by An Garda Síochána in conjunction with the US Department of State, Europol and the UK National Crime Agency.
As they announced sanctions against the Cartel, McGovern was branded as Kinahan's 'closest confidant' as well as the seller of 'multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine'.
They also announced he was wanted for murder and directing, and participating in an organised criminal group.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued by the High Court for the arrest of Sean McGovern in April 2022.
It said he was wanted for 'Murder and Directing and Participating in a Criminal Organisation.'
He was arrested in Dubai in October 2024 on the foot of an Interpol Red Notice.
Sean McGovern was then jailed in Dubai Central Prison, also known as Al Awir, where he remained until his extradition to Ireland.