Updated: 9.30pm. Additional reporting by Press Association and Reuters.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has praised a decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to freeze the assets of the Kinahan crime gang, which is believed to frequently use Dubai as part of its illicit operations.
Last week, US authorities said a $5 million reward was being offered for information on the gang which leads to the arrest and conviction of its leaders, including Christy Kinahan Snr, Christy Kinahan Jnr, and Daniel Kinahan.
The US has imposed sanctions against seven senior members of the Kinahan crime gang as part of a bid to target their financial operations.
Speaking on Thursday evening, the Taoiseach described the latest measures as "very welcome news".
"In terms of the UAE sanctions, we welcome that as part of a wider international effort to clamp down on organised crime, particularly the Kinahan crime group.
"Ultimately, crime does not pay and I think what this illustrates is the power of countries working together on the international level," he added.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also welcomed the announcement, saying it shows the "swift impact" of the sanctions announced last week to dismantle the organised crime group.
“An Garda Síochána’s tireless work in building an international law enforcement coalition to dismantle the gang has sent a clear signal that nobody is out of reach of the law.
“The net is now clearly tightening on the Kinahan organised crime group.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Gardaí said the force “continues to work with our partners at an international level to ensure we achieve the objective of dismantling the Kinahan organised crime group”.
“The announcements made at City Hall last week have generated additional avenues to pursue, and give us confidence we will achieve our objectives.”
MTK Global
This comes after the Dubai-based boxing management company MTK Global, co-founded by Daniel Kinahan, announced its closure on Wednesday.
MTK Global, which represents hundreds of fighters, said in a statement that as a business it had "faced unprecedented levels of unfair scrutiny and criticism since the sanctioning by the US government of Daniel Joseph Kinahan."
It said Kinahan's involvement in MTK had ended in 2017 but "unfounded allegations about his ongoing association with us and our fighters" persisted.
"Since leading promoters have now informed us that they will be severing all ties with MTK and will no longer work with our fighters, we have taken the difficult decision to cease operations at the end of this month," it added.
MTK Global had earlier announced the departure of chief executive Bob Yalen for personal reasons.
"Our priority in the weeks ahead will be to ensure that our world-class boxers are supported to find new partnerships as swiftly as possible," it said.
Kinahan was credited by Britain's world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who defends his WBC belt at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday, with helping broker a potential unification bout two years ago.
Fury told Sky Sports News that there had been no business dealings with Kinahan for "a long time" and there was no involvement in his latest fight.
World Boxing Council (WBC) president Mauricio Sulaiman said he had been introduced to Kinahan on a recent visit to Dubai, but said there had never been any relationship with him.
"He has never been involved with the WBC," he told Reuters at an event launching a Greatest Fights Opus book and charity auction for Ukraine.
"It was just a situation that I went on a trip to Dubai and met Daniel and that's it."
A lawyer for Daniel Kinahan told the BBC last year he has no criminal record or convictions and allegations about him being a crime boss are false.
