Detectives found stun gun and arrested four - jury told

A Dublin man was arrested after Special Branch detectives involved in an operation against the Real IRA swooped on a room in a Co Meath hotel last year, the Special Criminal Court was told today.

The court heard that detectives found a stun gun in a bag in the room and arrested four men.

It was the opening day of the trial of Robert Brennan (aged 33) of Sillogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin who pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on July 29 last year.

He also denied the unlawful possession of a stun gun and having it without a firearms certificate at the Neptune Beach Hotel, Bettystown, Co Meath on the same date.

Prosecuting counsel Mr George Birmingham SC said that Brennan was one of four men arrested after an operation by the Special Detective Unit and members of the Crime and Security Branch directed against the Real IRA.

He said that after his arrest Brennan was interviewed by gardai and he failed to answer questions about his membership of an illegal organisation. In one interview Brennan told gardai that he wanted to leave Oglaigh na hEireann because it had no future and was ``riddled by informants and touts.’’

Detectives who searched Brennan’s house found documents referring to Na Fianna, the youth wing of the IRA and two bodhrans and a mirror with paramilitary insignia.

Detective Chief Superintendent Basil Walsh, the head of the Special Detective Unit, said he believed on the basis of confidential information that Brennan was a member of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on July 29 last year.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Healy, Crime and Security Branch, said that he saw Brennan arriving in Bettystown and parking his car. He saw Brennan, who was carrying a blue hold all bag, going into the Neptune Beach Hotel and later he saw two other men entering the hotel.

When he and other gardai entered a room in the hotel they found Brennan and the two other men seated at a table and he saw the same hold all bag that Brennan was carrying earlier on the floor.

Detective Sergeant Healy said that he clearly saw a stun gun inside the bag which was unzipped and open. A fourth man arrived at the room during the garda operation and he was arrested along with the other three.

The trial is continuing.