Six men were cleared of being members of the Continuity IRA and one man was convicted of the charge at the Special Criminal Court today after one of the longest trials in the history of the court.

A Limerick man told the Special Criminal Court today that he was at a Republican Sinn Fein meeting discussing a forthcoming republican commemoration when gardaí raided a house in the city.

A Detective Sergeant who led a garda raid on a suspected Continuity IRA meeting in Limerick denied at the Special Criminal Court today that shots had been fired during the swoop.

A Garda Chief Superintendent told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that people's lives would be at risk if he disclosed the sources of confidential information relating to one of seven men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation, the Continuity IRA.

Eight men went on trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today in the biggest trial yet in the State of suspected members of the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA.