The first garda to arrest Christy Kinahan Snr has warned that crime bosses like the cartel godfather ‘never forget’ amid security concerns around Gerry Hutch’s election campaign.
Former Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan was speaking after convicted criminal Hutch last week said he will be taking ‘some’ security precautions during his election run.
The man named in court as the head of the Hutch organised crime group this week formally registered to stand in the May 22 by-election in Dublin Central.
Referring to the brutal Kinahan-Hutch feud that claimed the lives of 18 people and forced him into hiding, Hutch last week told a newspaper he was willing to let ‘bygones be bygones’.
The Independent candidate has also given no indication he is fearful that the Kinahans – who remain a major gangland force despite the arrests of several leading figures including leader Daniel Kinahan – who remains in custody in Dubai awaiting extradition proceedings – will try to assassinate him.
It is understood gardaí will be keeping a discreet watch on Hutch as he canvasses in north Dublin during the election campaign.
A major security operation is not in place to protect ‘The Monk’ in the event of an assassination attempt but gardaí will notify him if they become aware of a threat against him.
Mr O’Sullivan this weekend warned against complacency, telling the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Some criminals never forgive or forget, and it doesn’t matter how long it goes on.
‘I’m not suggesting anything about Gerry Hutch, but in general there has been so much bad feeling and deaths, it’s like one of these mafia feuds.
‘It simmers and it goes cold – and then something erupts.’
Mr O’Sullivan arrested Christy Kinahan Snr in 1986 when he caught him with heroin valued at IR£117,000, a very large quantity at the time.
The elder Kinahan was not widely known then but the former assistant commissioner said he soon learned how ‘ruthless’ he is.
Michael O’Sullivan arrested Christy Kinahan Snr in 1986 when he caught him with heroin valued at IR£117,000, a very large quantity at the time
He said that, prior to the mid-1980s, Kinahan was a ‘useless’ fraudster known as a ‘kite man’ but saw the profits in heroin and decided it would be a ‘good business venture’.
Mr O’Sullivan described the man who went on to become Ireland’s biggest drug lord as ‘very strategic and very cunning’.
He said: ‘He was an opportunist and when he saw heroin trade, he realised that was where the money is. He saw the destruction it [heroin] was doing, but he also saw the profits in it.
‘He went in purely as a mercenary and he was this faceless person at the top of the pyramid. He is totally ruthless.’
Mr O’Sullivan said that while criminals like Kinahan ‘never forget’ he now in ‘survival mode’ following his son Daniel’s arrest.
He added: ‘You have to understand, it is in the hearts and minds of people who have been affected for generations and on top of all that, you’ve the actors and participants – many of whom are in prison but will one day get out – and they all live in the same couple of square miles.
Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch' photographed in November 2024 while campaigning in the Dublin Central constituency ahead of that year's general election
Seen here campaigning for the 2024 general election, in which Hutch wouyld go on to secure 3,098 first preference votes but, with 5,321 votes on the 11th count after transfers, he would fail to be elected by 781 votes
Michael O’Sullivan, above, described the man who went on to become Ireland’s biggest drug lord as ‘very strategic and very cunning’.
Mr O’Sullivan said the Kinahans were blindsided by Daniel’s arrest in Dubai
‘People who have murdered people are going to be out and about and passing by the relatives of people who were murdered, so it is something that you really couldn’t say one way or the other.
‘That has been the trend right the way along. It is extremely unpredictable and criminals and criminal life is extremely unpredictable.
‘It’s the nature of the beast and then throw coke [cocaine] into the mix and all of that madness… it gets more and more dangerous.
‘Right now the priority for the Kinahans is [the] hope they don’t get arrested.’
Mr O’Sullivan said the Kinahans were blindsided by Daniel’s arrest, believing they were safe in Dubai. And he said Kinahan Snr will be ‘very worried and very concerned’ by recent events.
He added: ‘You know, they’re only a step away from the UAE deciding not to send them back to Ireland and instead cooperating with the Americans and sending them to the States.
‘Right now, he’s thinking that he never thought his son would be arrested, that’s for starters.
'His son never thought he would be arrested. There has been a change in policy with the UAE, and they will be wondering how safe is the place.
‘They are part of the business community and they have expended a lot of money on various investments, and in their minds they are businessmen out there because they’re in a different world and they have been safe out there for so long, why should that change?’
Kinahan Cartel lieutenant Sean McGovern is due to be sentenced next month
As Gerry Hutch’s election campaign got under way this week, the Special Criminal Court was hearing how Kinahan lieutenant Sean McGovern planned, oversaw and directed the murder of his friend Noel Kirwan.
McGovern’s defence counsel asked the court for a reduced sentence, claiming the six months he spent in a Dubai jail fighting his extradition were ‘difficult and onerous’.
The 40-year-old was held in the same Dubai jail currently playing host to Daniel Kinahan as he awaits extradition.
However, counsel for the State opposed this, noting McGovern spent more time in prison there because he contested his extradition and ‘prolonged his time in custody’.
Judge Patrick McGrath said the court will sentence Sean McGovern on June 8.