Longford man was in "dire financial circumstances" when he allowed IED construction at his home

A 29-year-old man from Ballymahon, County Longford, has been sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court, with one year suspended, following his guilty plea to possession of component parts of an improvised explosive device at his home in June 2015. Paul Dodd accommodated the storage of IED materials, including shotgun cartridges, propellant, cardboard tubing and clingfilm, in exchange for a financial promise. The court heard Dodd was in dire financial circumstances at the time. His co-accused, Brendan Hope from County Westmeath, had previously received a three-year sentence for possession of a completed device discovered in a van during a search operation. The Special Criminal Court found Dodd's involvement less culpable than Hope's. A separate charge of IRA membership against Dodd was withdrawn by the State.