Special Criminal Court discharges itself in 'Real IRA' trial

The Special Criminal Court today discharged itself from hearing the case of a Dublin man who was arrested after a garda operation against the Real IRA.

The court discharged itself following an application by defence counsel Mr Barry White SC who appeared for Declan Carroll.

Declan Carroll, aged 25, of Edenmore Crescent, Raheny, Dublin was one of four men arrested after a Special Branch swoop on the Neptune Beach Hotel in Bettystown, Co Meath last July.

On Tuesday he 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.

Yesterday Mr White applied to the court to discharge itself because two of three judges hearing the case of Declan Carroll had previously dealt with another trial in which Carroll had been convicted of membership.

Judge John D. O' Hagan and Judge Michael Reilly were members of the court that convicted Carroll for membership of an illegal organisation last December.

The court refused Mr White's application but today he renewed the application and told the court that the same two judges were also members of the court panel that had dealt with the trial earlier this year of Robert Brennan, another of the four men arrested at the Neptune Beach Hotel.

Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, presiding, said that ``unfortunate circumstances'' had emerged concerning the case. He said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had successfully applied for separate trials for the four men.

He said that Carroll's defence had applied at an earlier hearing for different judges than those who sat at the trial of Robert Brennan to hear his case.

The judge said that two members of the court hearing Carroll's case had been part of the court which had determined Brennan's case. He said this could lead to concerns that there was bias.

In order that there should be no suspicion of bias, however baseless, the court was discharging itself, the judge added. Brennan was remanded in custody until July 30 when a new trial date will be fixed.