Former GAA star guilty of ATM thefts with notorious cross-border gang

The Special Criminal Court has convicted Daniel O'Callaghan of involvement in a cross-border criminal organisation responsible for ATM thefts across Cavan and Monaghan in 2019. O'Callaghan, aged 31, of Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, was found guilty on all sixteen counts, including the attempted theft of an ATM at the Riverfront Hotel in Virginia on 14 August 2019 and the theft of an ATM on Main Street, Castleblayney on 3 April 2019. The Special Criminal Court accepted evidence that O'Callaghan was intimately involved in planning the thefts, which employed a consistent method using stolen diggers to extract machines from walls. Over €438,000 was recovered from a premises at Tullypole, Co Meath. Justice Tara Burns noted O'Callaghan's identification by gardai and supporting DNA evidence. He was remanded in custody pending sentencing on 4 March 2022. Several associates have already entered guilty pleas to related offences.