Declan Brady jailed for nine years over Noel Kirwan murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Declan ‘Mr Nobody’ Brady was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, with the final year suspended, for his role in facilitating the murder of Christopher, also known as Noel, Kirwan. The sentence leaves nine years to serve.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt imposed the sentence at the Special Criminal Court on 24 June 2024. The final year was suspended on condition that Brady dissociate himself from the Kinahan organisation. The sentence was backdated to 30 April 2024 and ordered to run concurrently with his earlier prison terms.

Brady pleaded guilty in January to a single charge of participating in, or contributing to, the activities of a criminal organisation, knowing of its existence and being reckless as to whether his participation or contribution could facilitate a serious offence, namely Kirwan’s murder. The charge covered the period from 20 October to 22 December 2016.

The judge said Brady was involved in attaching a tracker to Kirwan’s car, helping the Kinahan organisation carry out the murder. Kirwan was shot six times in his car at St Ronan’s Drive, Clondalkin, on 22 December 2016. His partner Bernadette Roe was in the passenger seat and was not injured.

At an earlier hearing, Det Supt Mark O’Neill agreed that Brady’s DNA was not found on the laptop used to communicate with the tracker and that there was no evidence he owned or operated it. He agreed Brady might not have known the tracker’s specific purpose, although he would have been able to work out that it furthered a serious crime and that a person was being targeted.

Mr Justice Hunt set a 13-year headline sentence and reduced it by three years for the guilty plea. The judge noted Brady’s concerns about possible recriminations if he expressly disassociated himself from the gang. His counsel had told the court Brady had undergone a significant change of heart about offending.

Brady had previously received 11 and a half years, with the final year suspended, for supervising a firearms arsenal. For laundering crime cash, he received eight years and three months, with the final year suspended, running from 23 April 2021.