The Government made fresh contact on Thursday night with authorities in the United Arab Emirates over the involvement of crime boss Daniel Kinahan in the brokering of a high-profile boxing match.
Kinahan, who now lives in the UAE, has helped broker a bout between heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, a fight which will net hundreds of millions in profits for those involved.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil on Thursday that the Department of Foreign Affairs had been in contact with “the authorities in the United Arab Emirates about that matter”.
It is understood that fresh contact was made with the UAE on Thursday night but is not clear what message the Government was relaying – or how the message was conveyed.
The Government came under pressure from figures such as Labour leader Alan Kelly on the issue.
‘Global scale’
“There is an individual from our country who, according to the High Court, is a very senior figure in organised crime on a global scale and, according to CAB [Criminal Assets Bureau], has controlled and managed operations of the Kinahan organised crime group for some time,” Mr Kelly said, adding that intervention was needed and owed to the “victims of such a cartel”.
They should be absolutely hammering on the door of the Arabs, telling them throw out and eject him
Mr Varadkar said he was rather “taken aback” to see heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury in his video just dropping “that name that you mentioned as if this was somebody who did not have quite a chequered history in this State and elsewhere”.
And a retired senior garda has called on the Government to pressure the UAE to eject Kinahan from the country.
Brian Sherry, a former detective inspector who investigated organised crime in Dublin, said: “This Government is inept and that’s putting it mildly. They should be absolutely hammering on the door of the Arabs, telling them throw out and eject him back to Ireland where he can face trial for the crimes he has committed against the people of Ireland. It’s ludicrous.”
