Arrest of IRA accused unlawful

The arrest of a man who was accused of IRA membership was yesterday ruled unlawful by the Special Criminal Court.

Kevin Power, aged 38, with an address at Railway Street, Passage West, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation within the State styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on December 19, 2011.

Yesterday, the three-judge, non-jury court heard evidence and submissions during a ‘voir dire’, a trial within a trial, to determine legal issues relating to the arrest and detention of the accused man.