Judge praises 'heroic' gardaí at IRA trial

A judge today praised two uniformed and unarmed gardaí who stopped 10 men in paramilitary gear in Balbriggan as "quite heroic" and said they "deserved much praise" for their action.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding at the Special Criminal Court said that " a very successful garda operation" was launched after an off-duty garda, Michael Mc Cabe, spotted two cars with five men in each car acting suspiciously on the M1 and followed them.