A senior member of the Kinahan cartel, Declan Brady, has pleaded guilty to facilitating a criminal organisation in the murder of Noel Kirwan, an innocent man who had no involvement in crime.
At a sitting of the Special Criminal Court on Friday Brady, who is in custody for other offences, pleaded guilty to the single charge against him. He will appear before the court again on Wednesday next week when a date will be set for his sentencing hearing.
Brady’s co-accused, Michael Crotty, was due to go on trial today but his case was adjourned to Monday morning to allow Mr Crotty to consult with his lawyers.
Brady (56) was charged that between October 20th, 2016 and December 22nd, 2016, within the State and with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation did participate in, or contribute by activity, or by being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could facilitate the commission by a criminal organisation or any of its members of a serious offence: to wit the murder of Christopher (aka Noel) Kirwan, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal justice Act.
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Brady replied “guilty” to the charge.
Evidence relating to Brady’s involvement in the murder will be heard at a sentencing hearing but a date has not yet been set. Brady, of Wolstan Abbey, Celbridge, Co Kildare pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court in July 2019 to supervising a firearms arsenal including an assault rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition that had been stashed in a Dublin business park.
He was sentenced to 11 and a half years in prison with the final year suspended for that offence. While in prison in 2021 Brady pleaded guilty to laundering more than €400,000 in crime cash through multiple bank accounts in 2017. Mr Crotty (40) of Slí Aonghusa, Aras na Rí, Cashel, Co Tipperary is also charged with facilitating Mr Kirwan’s murder and has not yet been asked to enter a plea.
Mr Kirwan (62) was shot six times as he sat in his car on December 22nd, 2016 at St Ronan’s Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
During a hearing relating to a different person involved in the murder, the Special Criminal Court said it was “disturbing” that Mr Kirwan had apparently been shot for no reason other than that pictures of him had appeared in the media in the company of a man believed by members of the Kinahan cartel to have been involved in the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016.
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