Donal Ó Coisdealbha admits dissident republican membership

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

Donal Ó Coisdealbha admitted being a member of a dissident republican organisation. The proceedings were reported on 28 November 2016. He was due to be sentenced at the Special Criminal Court the following week.

The court heard that he was arrested during a garda operation in May 2015, six days before Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited Ireland. The report said gardaí moved in on 13 May following recorded discussions referring to a timer with a 14-minute delay and blame being given to a different IRA organisation. Gardaí believed the planned operation was to take place around 19 May 2015.

A search of a house at Harbour Court in Wexford recovered four improvised rockets, Semtex, homemade explosives, two detonators and other components. Officers separately found a timing power unit and a broken circuit board in his locker at NUI Maynooth. The court heard that these fitted together with components found in Wexford.

The court heard that Ó Coisdealbha had no previous convictions, was educated to third level, worked in biomedics and lived with his parents. His defence counsel said his guilty plea was a public acknowledgement of his wrongdoing. The report stated that the maximum sentence was eight years.