Joe Molloy

Nidge was front and centre in the national conversation every bit as much as the Kinnehans and the Hutches.

What's more, to add to the surreal nature of it all, it seemed as if the Gardaí in the state could do nothing to halt the madness.

All the while, MTK Global was enjoying a meteoric rise both here and abroad.

It was founded in 2012 by Matthew Macklin.

Originally, it was called MGM until 2017 when it switched to MTK Global.

The MGM stood for Macklin's Jim Marbella.

And Daniel Kinahan, his friend, was involved from early on.

And Kinahan was very prominent.

There's a famous photo of him at the National Stadium in Dublin.

He's in the ring in a three-piece suit, smiling for the cameras.

He's alongside Jamie Conlon, Paddy Barnes and Matthew Macklin.

And Jamie had just beaten the Mexican fighter, Junior Granados.

This was 2015.

Also in 15, world champion Billy Joe Saunders was interviewed having just beaten Andy Lee in their world title fight.

Kinahan is visible over Saunders' shoulder as he speaks.

MTK would represent the likes of Tyson Fury, arguably the most famous boxer in the world, Karl Frampton, Michael Conlon and Paddy Barnes, to name a few.

At its peak, they would claim to have branches in 15 different countries and 25 different cities.

They reportedly had over 200 boxers on their books.

Now, we should say very clearly, neither Matthew Macklin nor the MTK boxers have been accused of any criminal activity.

But of those 200 boxers, the word was that MTK paid better than many other companies.