George Gibney agrees to extradition to Ireland to face sex abuse charges
He appeared before a US court earlier this week after being arrested in Florida on July 1 off the back of an extradition request from gardaí. Gibney's lawyer has since told the court that his client has dropped a planned legal challenge to continue detention in Florida, and has agreed to be extradited to Ireland.
In a document made public on Thursday, the public defender of the case said: "On July 8, 2025, undersigned counsel met with Mr Gibney and fully advised of his rights in an extradition proceeding, his right to a detention hearing, and his right to an extradition hearing.
"As a result, Mr Gibney has decided to withdraw his request to a detention hearing and stipulate to detention. Likewise, Mr Gibney advised counsel he wants to waive his extradition hearing and be extradited to Ireland. An Affidavit of Waiver of Extradition Hearing will be filed as soon as possible."
Upon his extradition to Ireland, the former swimming coach will face 78 charges of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape. Gibney coached the four alleged victims in the case in the 1970s and 1980s, when they were between the ages of eight and 15, according to the complaint lodged with the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Orlando).
The court filings say the four women made complaints to gardaí between 2020 and 2022. The complaints came after the BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? re-examined the story of the Olympic coach charged with child sexual abuse but never stood trial.
In 1993, the former coach at the Trojan swimming club in Dublin faced 27 charges of indecency against young swimmers. However, the prosecution was successfully halted. His lawyers argued there was a delay in the offences coming out and a lack of precision defining the specific alleged incidents.
This legal challenge ended up in the Supreme Court which ruled in his favour. The charges that Gibney is now facing are in relation to different instances of alleged abuse than the charges in 1993.
Following the case over 30 years ago, the former swimming coach fled Ireland and spent some time in Scotland before moving to the US, where he has been living since. An investigation was then reopened by gardaí following the 2020 BBC podcast documentary and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions three years later.
Last year, the DPP decided he should face charges in connection with allegedly abusing children that were in his care when he was a swimming coach. Gardaí then secured an extradition warrant in the High Court and it's understood they have been working with US authorities for the last six months.
Speaking in Japan after Gibney's arrest last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it shows the importance of judicial operation.
He said: "I think we all listened to the podcast. I think it's important that we have an agreement with the US. Gardaí have been working very diligently and in a detailed way, I have no doubt. We will await the next step now."
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