Monaghan man appears at out-of-hours sitting of non-jury court charged with IRA membership

A 43-year-old man from County Monaghan has been charged with membership of an unlawful organization styling itself the Irish Republican Army. The man was arrested in Carrickmacross on the evening of 28 November following an investigation into dissident republican activity conducted by the Special Detective Unit. He appeared at an out-of-hours sitting of the Special Criminal Court in Dublin where the charge relating to 25 November was put to him. He made no reply to the charge. Detective Garda evidence indicated the accused had been in garda custody since the previous Wednesday. The court, presided over by Mr Justice Paul Butler with Judges John O'Hagan and William Hamill, remanded the accused in custody pending a bail application hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning.