TRIAL OF EIGHT MEN OPENS ON MONDAY

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday January 13, 2003 13:17 by Republican

The trial of eight men, five from Limerick and three others from Kildare, Tipperary and Clare on IRA membership charges is due to begin in the Special Non-Jury Court in Dublin on Monday 13th January.

The men were arrested by armed police in Ballynanty in the north side of Limerick city on the 17th December 2001 during a meeting in a house in the estate.

Police fired shots as they stormed the dwelling and arrested eight men. No weapons or paramilitary effects were found in the house. After two days of detention the eight were charged with IRA membership.

Restrictive bail conditions – they were ordered not to take part in any political activity nor to meet or associate with members of a political party - were imposed on the eight and in October last two of men, Joe Lynch and Christy Dunne both from Limerick were charged with breaches of the conditions and remanded in Portlaoise prison.

In August 2002 Christy Dunne was abducted by undercover police and driven to an isolated spot at Castleconnell off the main Limerick to Dublin road. There he was threatened and he feared for his life. He jumped from the car and swam across the River Shannon to safety. An internal Garda inquiry has yet to complete a report on the incident.

“There will be considerable interest in this case because of the implications for civil and human rights,” a source close to the case said last night. “The fact that they are charged on the word of a senior policeman has focussed attention from organisations concerned with civil liberties. In fact some observers will be in the court for the duration of the hearing.”