The Special Criminal Court will give its ruling next week on an application by defence challenging the validity of the arrest and subsequent detention of one of five men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation.

Simultaneous searches on the homes of three men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation uncovered items including a bodhran with a man in a balaclava carrying arms and badges inscribed with "sniper at work", the Special Criminal Court heard today.

A Garda Inspector told the Special Criminal Court today that he saw two men place a Real IRA wreath at a republican plot in a Cork cemetery on Easter Saturday in 2003.

Four men accused of membership of an illegal organisation were observed by undercover gardaí arriving at a Co Cork hotel, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

The trial has opened at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin of three Cork men and two Limerick men accused of membership of the Real IRA.

A former Christian Brother from the North Monastery in Cork was told today that he could thank the victim he sexually assaulted for the fact that he was not going to prison.

Four men arrested during a garda investigation into the activities of dissident republicans in the Munster area were charged with membership of an illegal organisation at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.