Daniel Kinahan was whisked away to Portlaoise Prison from Dublin’s city centre on Sunday night, amid a significant security operation after his appearance at the Special Criminal Court.
He had earlier been extradited from Dubai, arriving on the Government jet at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Dublin.
He was taken from the Criminal Courts of Justice in a Garda vehicle, and not the new bulletproof Irish Prison Service van that received almost as much publicity in recent days as Kinahan.
The prison escort service does not operate out of hours to and from Ireland’s courts, especially not on a Sunday night. So it was the gardaí who delivered the 49-year-old Dubliner to the Co Laois jail.
RM Block
During The Troubles, Portlaoise was synonymous with terrorist inmates, mostly from the Provisional IRA, who were such a security risk the Defence Forces were assigned full-time to the jail.
But as organised crime has displaced terrorism on the Garda’s list of priorities over the last 30 years, the cells in Portlaoise have been all but emptied of terrorists.
How long Kinahan stays there has not been decided. If he fights the case and wins at trial next year, he would be released immediately. If convicted, he faces potentially somewhere between 20 and 30 years in prison.
But nothing is proven against him at this point. He is an innocent man in the eyes of the law.
His arrival at Portlaoise last night was so late that the doctors who usually assess all new committals were not on duty. Instead, Kinahan was due to be interviewed by a nurse in an attempt to assess any physical or mental health problems.
Like all other prisoners, committal to the jail involved his photograph and fingerprints being taken. He was also searched during a process in which any personal items are taken.
He was due to meet the duty governor and doctor on Monday morning, as part of his introduction to the jail. Because he has had no experience of the Irish prison system – as he has no convictions – a special effort will be made to monitor him and ensure he settles into the daily regime.
However, prison sources say he has been remanded in a prison in Dubai since his arrest there in mid-April, adding he will probably be relieved to be in the Republic, even if as a prisoner.
“This guy could settle in immediately,” said one source. “And we have a duty to provide a few facilities, but the so-called gym and library are nothing much. The gym is probably slightly bigger than a box room in a house.”
Kinahan, who was last in Ireland in 2016, will be a remand prisoner until he goes on trial. He will be housed on a landing on A Block that has been cleared especially for him. That space would normally be used to accommodate about eight prisoners.
The gym set up for him has free weights and a treadmill. A rowing machine is also expected to be added. A library – certainly a large selection of reading materials – has also been put in place.
Prison sources said Kinahan will spend approximately 20 hours per day, maybe a little more, locked into his cell. During out-of-cell times, he can use the gym equipment and the library in his area of the landing.
He will also get out to the exercise yard each day, probably for an hour. That yard in A Block was one of the first in the State to be fitted with wire netting in an attempt to ensure no contraband could be thrown in for prisoners.
“It’s a cage in every sense,” said one source of the yard, and landing, on which Kinahan will be by himself.
The only people with whom he will have daily contact are prison officers. He may have other, less frequent, dealings with medical staff and prison management, but he will not mix with any other prisoners for the foreseeable future.
Even when allowed out to the yard, he will be alone. His meals – breakfast at 8am, dinner at 12.30pm and tea at 4.30pm – will be wheeled on to his landing by prison officers.
While his wife and children remain in Dubai, Kinahan has friends and extended family in Ireland. They will be permitted to visit him, though remand prisoners are only allowed screened visits, with glass between prisoner and visitor.
Like all prisoners, he will also be allowed video calls, meaning any of his family abroad will be able to see and speak to him. Kinahan will also have a tuck shop account, into which his family can lodge money so he can buy items in the prison shop such as shaving kit and other personal items.
Depending on how long his case takes to go to trial, a decision could be taken to move him in with other prisoners. But for now, and probably until his trial ends, the regime will be the same every day: a grinding rinse and repeat away from other prisoners.
