Three charged as gardaí foil tiger kidnap plot in Cork

THREE men are due to appear at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin this morning after gardaí foiled a tiger kidnapping plot by a dissident republican organisation in Cork city.

Seven men were being questioned at Garda stations in Cork and Limerick over the weekend in connection with the attempted kidnapping of a Cork property developer/pub owner. They were being questioned under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. The remaining four were still in custody last night. The men range in age from their 20s to 50s and one of them is believed to be a ruling member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, the political wing of the INLA. Two others are thought to be senior INLA figures from Dublin.

Tiger kidnappings are so called because of the predatory stalking that precedes them.

The first four arrests were made on Friday. The men were seized by armed gardaí shortly after 8pm in the Montenotte and Lovers Walk area of Cork city.

Exact details of what the men were doing at the time of the arrest have not been made public but weapons and paraphernalia were recovered.

The four men were arrested after a Garda chase.

A number of items were seized during the operation, which involved local gardaí and national units. Gardaí say the operation is targeting terrorist activities and serious crime and has been continuing for several months.

It is understood the men, at least one of whom is from the North, may have set up base in Cork over the past few weeks or months in order to plan the kidnap.

Meanwhile, two other men, believed to be from Cork, were arrested in follow-up operations in Kerry on Friday night.

They were being questioned at Garda stations in Cork. A seventh man was also detained for questioning in Limerick and was being held yesterday at Henry Street Garda Station.

The house in Lovers Walk where the four men in Cork were arrested was technically examined by gardaí on Saturday morning.

Chief Supt Kevin Ludlow said he was limited in terms of what he could say about the investigation.

However, he confirmed the arrests followed a prolonged and targeted operation on serious crime and terrorist activity.

“An Garda Síochána have dedicated significant local and national resources to this investigation and I believe the community here in Cork will be very satisfied that the outcome has been worthwhile.

“I am not in a position to discuss the specifics of the ongoing investigation but I am satisfied that it will make a significant contribution to the safety and security of the community at large,” he said.