The Special Criminal Court ruled today that portions of garda interviews with two Northern Ireland men accused of Real IRA membership should not be admitted in evidence because the men had not been given proper access to their solicitors.

A Northern Ireland man arrested at a Co Monaghan farmyard made no reply when questioned by Special Branch detectives about the activities of dissident republicans, the Special Criminal Court was told today.

A Belfast solicitor claimed he could not give his client advice over his arrest for suspected membership of the IRA because he got “absolutely no disclosure of information” from gardaí at Monaghan, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

A garda witness in the trial of three Armagh men accused of memberhip of the IRA has told the Special Criminal Court he was unable to contact the accused’s solicitor on the night of the arrest.

The Special Criminal Court today refused to discharge itself from trying the case of three Armagh men accused of membership of a dissident republican organisation.

A Northern Ireland man arrested by Special Branch detectives near the border last month was a member of a dissident republican organisation on his way to commit serious crime, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Four Northern Ireland men arrested in Co Monaghan earlier this month were members of a Real IRA active service unit preparing to commit serious crime, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Four men who were arrested in Co Monaghan last Friday were charged at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today with membership of an illegal organisation.