Three jailed for IRA membership

Three men from the North arrested after gardaí received a tip-off that dissident republicans were about to carry out a "tiger kidnapping" in Co Donegal earlier this year were jailed for membership of the IRA at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

Gerard McGarrigle (aged 46) of Mount Carmel Heights, Strabane, Co Tyrone, Desmond Donnelly (aged 58) of Drumall, Lisnarick, Co Fermanagh, and Jim Murphy (aged 63) of Floraville, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, had each denied membership of an illegal organisation styling itself on the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on February 22 last.

The three men were convicted last month. Today the court jailed Mc Garrigle for five years and Murphy and Donnelly for three years and nine months each.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, said that Mc Garoigle had three previous convictions in the North for terrorist related offences, including one in 1993 for attempted murder.

He said that both Donnelly and Murphy had no significant previous convictions.

The court heard during the trial that the three accused men were arrested at a garda checkpoint outside Letterkenny in the early hours of February 22 last.

The accused men told gardaí that they had driven to Letterkenny in the hope of getting security work at the Golden Grill nightclub.

Chief Superintendent Michael O' Sullivan gave evidence that he believed the three men were IRA members on February 22.

The court heard that a number of items were found in a car used by the men when it was stopped at the garda checkpoint at Oldtown. These included an imitation firearm, latex gloves, nine cable ties and black bin liners.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, said that the court was satisfied that gardaí did receive intelligence relating to an alleged plot by dissident republicans that involved either a "tiger kidnapping or robbery" and that the intelligence included the names of the three accused.

"While parts of the intelligence may have been faulty or incomplete, it is clear that there was a basis for it, in that the accused were found together at or about 12.30am in a car outside Letterkenny far from where they lived,'' he added.

The judge said that it had not been established that the items found in the car were connected with any plot. But he said the items rendered "material" many of the questions which had not been answered by the three accused during garda interviews.

The judge said that the court was satisfied that the failure of the accused to answer "material" questions amounted to corroboration of the belief evidence of Chief Superintendent O' Sullivan.