Leading crime figure with convictions for possession of weapons found dead

Damien Galvin (43) was pronounced dead on Tuesday at the property in the Carbury area of county Kildare.

He was well-known to detectives in the region for involvement in organised criminality and his gang were previously suspected of carrying out a campaign of intimidation against gardaí.

Galvin also had previous convictions for possession of weapons and once appeared on an RTÉ reality programme.

Gardaí are not treating his death as suspicious and believe it was a tragic incident.

A death notice said that he died suddenly at his home and will be sadly missed by his children, family and large circle of friends.

His funeral will take place in Carbury on Saturday morning with gardaí expected to have a policing plan in place for the service.

He was considered a significant criminal and a central figure within a crime group operating in north-west Kildare and Offaly

Last July, Galvin appeared before Naas district court accused of threatening another man in two separate phone calls a year earlier.

During the alleged threats, made to another man in Rathangan, Galvin said he would “put a hole” in his head and threatened to damage his property.

The court heard a disagreement arose following derogatory comments made by the complainant to Galvin some weeks earlier.

A decade ago he had also appeared as a contestant on the RTÉ reality show ‘Six in the City’ during which couples competed to show each other the ultimate night out in their home cities and towns.

In 2015 Galvin’s associates were involved in a series of high-profile threats to local gardaí in Carbury which saw officers at the garda station being formally warned of risks to their safety.

The officers were each issued with a Garda Information Messages, known as a GIM form, advising them of credible threats to their lives.

The issue was raised with the then Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan at the annual Garda Representative Association (GRA) conference that year.

In another incident one officer’s home was the target of an arson attack with all gardaí taking extra security measures at their home.

Damien Galvin was also previously found guilty of making vile threats to gardaí who arrested, telling the officer: “I’ll leave your wife a widow.”