The unlikely reason why Daniel Kinahan's looming extradition - just as Ireland-bound Donald Trump prepares to repeat his World Cup trophy exploits in Doonbeg - is giving Justice Minister 'Big Jim' O'Callaghan nightmares

Published: 22:13, 2 August 2026 | Updated: 22:13, 2 August 2026 ‘It would kill’ the Justice Minister to see Daniel Kinahan being returned home from Dubai in a Government-owned jet, informed sources told the Irish Mail on Sunday this week. It comes as the suspected mob boss lost his final appeal in Dubai and will remain in custody there until he is handed over to the gardaí, which is expected in the next six weeks. It also comes as Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to his Doonbeg Golf Resort in Co. Clare for the Amgen Irish Open was confirmed o- with the president keen to be at the prize-giving ceremony at his  Once home, the 48-year-old Kinahan - son of notorious 'Dapper Don' Christy Kinahan - will face trial at the Special Criminal Court on a charge of directing the activities of a criminal gang. In the past two days Kinahan has claimed he has been the victim of a media witchhunt in an interview with a controversial podcaster on Friday. A source told the MoS: ‘It would kill him [Minister Jim O’Callaghan] to see Daniel Kinahan arriving on any Government-owned jet.’ Kinahan – one of the three alleged leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group – is expected to be escorted back in the same way that gang lieutenant Seán McGovern was extradited in May of last year. McGovern was flown home on an Air Corps Casa C295, which flew out of Baldonnel to pick him up in Dubai. McGovern was jailed in June for 24 years after pleading guilty at the Special Criminal Court to two charges of directing a criminal organisation – one linked to the murder of Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan, who was shot dead in Clondalkin in December 2016, and one linked to a foiled plot to kill James ‘Mago’ Gately. Daniel Kinahan broke his silence to claim he is being made a scapegoat by the media and urged members of the public to ‘start joining the dots’ On Friday, a preview clip was released of Kinahan speaking to controversial podcaster James English for his Anything Goes show, in which the Dubliner said he expects ‘life’ in jail. Kinahan broke his silence to claim he is being made a scapegoat by the media and urged members of the public to ‘start joining the dots’. ‘There’s so many things that’s happened and I think it’s time it has to start to come out now. ‘They’re talking about… this imaginary cartel. ‘It would kill’ the Justice Minister to see Daniel Kinahan being returned home from Dubai in a Government-owned jet Trump's visit could coincide with Daniel Kinahan's extradition ‘Like I said, people need to connect the dots now and start looking into this because once they unravel what’s happening there, it’s going to unravel.’ In the four-minute snippet, the Scottish podcaster – who previously interviewed Kinahan in 2022 – asked: ‘How can they get away with printing your name every other week in the Irish press?’ The government Lear 45 Jet at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnell, Dublin Kinahan responded: ‘That’s a question that I’d like to know.’ Mr English then stated: ‘And you’ve been fast-tracked now in the Dubai courts. It could have potentially taken months but with you it only took a few days.’ Kinahan replied: ‘What they know about me, James, is only what they’ve been fed. It’s been created by what they know in the media. And now I have no other option than to speak out and put my side forward of everything, you know.’ Kinahan was arrested in Dubai under a warrant issued by the Irish courts in April. He moved to the United Arab Emirates from the Costa del Sol in Spain following the murder of his friend and fellow gang member David Byrne. Byrne was shot dead by the rival Hutch gang at the Regency Hotel in February 2016, but gardaí believe Daniel Kinahan was the primary target. The murder resulted in a significant escalation of the Hutch-Kinahan feud. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.