Man admits helping IRA carry out murder of dissident republican

Michael McDermott, a fifty-nine-year-old man from Ballinagh in County Cavan, has pleaded guilty before the Special Criminal Court to assisting an unlawful organisation in the murder of dissident republican Peter Butterly. The admission came following a change in the legal basis of the charges against McDermott in November 2018, when he was recharged under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005. The prosecution then withdrew three earlier counts relating to murder and firearms possession. McDermott's involvement centred on his actions between 3 and 6 March 2013, in the period leading up to and including the fatal shooting. Mr Butterly, aged thirty-five, was shot multiple times outside the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, County Meath on 6 March 2013, an incident that occurred in the presence of schoolchildren awaiting buses. The defendant had initially maintained a not guilty plea when trial proceedings commenced in October 2018. His change of plea represented a significant development in protracted proceedings that had begun with charges being laid in 2017. Following his guilty plea, McDermott was remanded in custody to await sentencing, which was scheduled for 28 January 2019. The three-judge Special Criminal Court ultimately sentenced him to four years imprisonment with the final six months suspended, taking into account his guilty plea and personal circumstances. Two other men, Frank Murphy of Bettystown, County Meath, and Kevin Braney, both continued to deny the charges against them. Murphy subsequently pleaded guilty to obstructing the apprehension or prosecution of a witness, receiving a three-year sentence with the final year suspended. Braney's trial proceedings continued before the Special Criminal Court at the time of McDermott's plea. Four other individuals have previously received life sentences in connection with the same killing.