A man described as a “senior lieutenant” in the Kinahan organised crime gang has been jailed for 24 years at the Special Criminal Court. Sean McGovern (40), pleaded guilty to two charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation relating to the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud in which he was shot.The charge of directing a criminal organisation carried a potential sanction of up to life imprisonment.With a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, McGovern pleaded guilty in March to directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 20th and December 22nd, 2016, in relation to the murder of Noel Kirwan, a 62-year-old grandfather who was regarded as a “soft target”.He also admitted directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 17th, 2015, and April 6th, 2017, in connection with the surveillance of Hutch family associate James “Mago” Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence.The Special Criminal Court imposed a sentence of 10 years for the plot to kill Gately and 14 for the Kirwan murder. Court backdated McGovern’s sentence to October 2024, when he was arrested in Dubai.Kirwan was selected to be shot dead because he was a friend of the Hutch family, had been photographed at a Hutch family funeral earlier that year and was easy to kill, the court was told.[ Inside the Kinahan cartel’s secret messages: ‘What about doing [the Monk’s] daughter?’Opens in new window ]A sentencing hearing for McGovern in May heard that he wanted to apologise for the hurt as a consequence of his actions.McGovern, who was injured during the attack at the Regency Hotel in 2016, was previously named during a separate trial at the Special Criminal Court as “a significant figure” with a “leadership role” in Kinahan organised crime group.