Partner of Conor McGregor’s sister linked to Kinahan cartel whose struggle led to 18 murders

Conor McGregor’s reputation has been left in tatters after he lost a civil case against a woman who alleged he raped her.

Nikita Hand claimed the disgraced former UFC champion assaulted her in a hotel in Dublin in 2018 and choked her three times in the process. The jury ordered that the fighter must now pay her more than £200,000 in damages.

The news sent shockwaves throughout Ireland with many believing the former apprentice plumber turned MMA superstar was simply untouchable.

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And aside from his recent high-profile court appearances, McGregor has been seen photographed with a sinister character from Ireland’s underworld, with ties to one of the most notorious gangs in the world.

The Kinahan cartel

The Kinahan cartel was once headed by convicted drug smuggler Christy ‘Dappy Don’ Kinahan. But his more well-known son, Daniel Kinahan, is now the main man, and he has a £12million bounty on his head.

He used to be a boxing manager with MGM (later changed to MTK) and he was an advisor to the likes of Tyson Fury and Darren Till.

But despite getting into combat sports with his close pal and former boxer Matthew Macklin, his main source of income has been through drugs and arms dealing. He is reportedly also involved with a Dubai ‘super cartel’.

The Kinahan gang is famous in Ireland – and now throughout the world – because of its bloody feud with the Hutch family that resulted in 18 murders. The most notorious one happened inside the Regency Hotel in February 2016 when four men, two who were dressed as police, stormed the building where children were present, armed with AK-47s.

The target was reportedly Daniel Kinahan, who escaped unscathed while his associate, David Byrne, was shot dead in front of horrified civilians. Just three days later, the brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, Eddie, was murdered at his home in Dublin.

In total, 18 people were killed at various stages of the gangland war, with 10 of them happening in 2016 alone. Three of the killings were cases of mistaken identity while four Hutch family members lost their lives in the dispute.

Conor McGregor’s ties to the Kinahan gang

Earlier this year McGregor splashed out fortunes for his sister, Erin, who was on Dancing with the Stars, to have a dream wedding.

But one of the VIP guests was a well-known mobster of the Kinahan gang.

During the fancy ceremony, the UFC star was seated in front of Graham ‘The Wig’ Whelan who was once described as a former senior figure in the Kinahan drugs cartel.

He wore a black tie and sat with the McGregors to celebrate the wedding of panto star Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh at the plush five-star Cashel Palace Hotel in County Tipperary back in August.

Whelan was present because his girlfriend, Aoife McGregor, another of Conor’s sisters, was one of the bridesmaids.

Who is Graham ‘The Wig’ Whelan?

He is a former mobster from Dublin with previous convictions – and he is also pals with McGregor who he reportedly shares some of the same childhood friends with.

Whelan has also been pictured with the MMA fighter on multiple occasions and has kitted out for his Black Forge Inn football team in the past.

Whelan embraced a life of crime from a young age and when he was just 17 he was jailed for six years after a €1.6million drug seizure at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Dublin in 2000.

After another arrest years later, he told cops he was a “dangerous criminal” and to “look me up”.

He left Ireland nine years after the hotel drugs seizure and he lived in the UK from 2009 until 2016.

The gangster was said to be a close associate of leading Kinahan drug cartel member Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh.

Whelan was also pals with David Byrne, who was shot dead in the Regency Hotel in 2016, which as previously mentioned, was the defining moment in the Hutch-Kinahan feud.

The Dubliner recently became a free man after serving time for money laundering offences, including possession of a €28,000 watch, for the Kinahans, and is looking to turn his back on a life of crime.

Whelan pleaded guilty to the offences in 2021 after being caught in possession of proceeds of crime including the watch and €1,200 in cash at a hotel in the Irish capital in January 2019.

Dating McGregor’s sister

Whelan was caged for 18 months and during his time inside he was visited by Aoife McGregor.

The influencer, who once worked for a mini digger hire company, was later pictured with her hands draped around Whelan just days after he was released in December 2022.

She reportedly used the snap as her WhatsApp profile photo and it was taken inside her brother’s pub in Crumlin called the Black Forge Inn.

At the time a source told the Sunday World: “It wasn’t exactly a secret that the two of them were close. But posting a picture of them together as her profile picture would suggest she’s fairly serious about him.”