Court of Appeal upholds five sentences in IRA inquiry case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal upheld five prison sentences on 14 February 2020 following convictions connected to an IRA inquiry into suspected informants.

Seán Hannaway received five years and six months, David Nooney three years and nine months, and Edward O’Brien 16 months for membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army on 8 August 2015.

Kevin Hannaway received three years and nine months and Eva Shannon four years for assisting the interviewing of people involved in IRA-organised criminal activities at Riverwood Park, Castleknock, Dublin 15, on 7 and 8 August 2015. All five were found guilty following a Special Criminal Court trial in Dublin in June 2018.

Kevin Hannaway, Seán Hannaway and Eva Shannon appealed against the severity of their sentences. The Director of Public Prosecutions sought reviews of the sentences imposed on David Nooney and Edward O’Brien as unduly lenient. The court refused all three appeals and both reviews.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice John Edwards said Kevin Hannaway suffered from PTSD. A report by Professor Harry Kennedy found he was not fit for imprisonment on E Wing of Portlaoise Prison, where noise triggered nightmares, and described the conditions he faced as life threatening. His counsel, Conan Fegan BL, urged the court to suspend the balance of his sentence.

The court found no error in principle. Mr Justice Edwards said the sentence reflected the gravity of the offence and its management was a matter for the prison authorities. Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy also sat on the appeal.