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Shouts of "tiocfaidh ár lá" as man is convicted of IRA membership after FBI-foiled explosives plot

Summary

In a Special Criminal Court hearing, Jonathan Hawthorn, 45, of Ballintyre Downs, was convicted of membership in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) for September 14, 2016. He was photographed receiving a mock grenade delivery set up by Gardaí to resemble a real explosive, and he was found in possession of the dummy items in a sports bag when arrested later that day. Hawthorn's refusal to answer questions about the fake explosives was deemed sufficient evidence of his membership. His co‑accused, James Geraghty, 61, and Donal O'Ceallaigh, 33, walked free after the court found no evidence of IRA membership. The verdict was delivered by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, with Judges Gerard Griffin and Gerard Haughton, and Hawthorn will be sentenced next October. The case involved an FBI‑led dark‑web operation that monitored a user named Meat Cleaver, who ordered Semtex and other weapons to be disguised as Play‑Doh and delivered to Geraghty's address.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Shouts of "tiocfaidh ár lá" as man is convicted of IRA membership after FBI-foiled explosives plot. Charges or matters: membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on September 14, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Found guilty

When:

• September 14, 2016 Incident
• September 3, 2016 Other
• 2018-07-31 Publication

Why: The judges found that Jonathan Hawthorn had refused to answer material questions about his possession of the fake explosives and that this was because his answers would not stand up to scrutiny. CNI source report

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Read the original CNI report