Eight Dublin men accused of IRA membership given January 2015 trial date

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

Eight Dublin men charged with membership of an unlawful organisation, namely Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA, on 29 March 2013 had their trial fixed by the non-jury Special Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 12 November 2013.

The men were Kevin Braney, Des Christie, Eamon McNamee, Hubert Duffy, William Jackson, Declan Phelan, John Brock and Darren Murphy. They had been arrested on Good Friday after a search of commercial premises in Clondalkin and charged at an Easter Sunday sitting of the court.

The report also identified Kevin Braney, Declan Phelan, John Brock and Des Christie as among eight men arrested on 4 July following a house search in Tallaght. They were subsequently charged before the Special Criminal Court with IRA membership on 3 July.

Counsel for the State, Vincent Heneghan BL, said books of evidence had been served and it was agreed that the trial would take about six weeks. Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler said the first clear six-week slot began on 13 January 2015 and fixed the trial for that date.

Both sides had liberty to mention the case again. Mr Justice Paul Butler said a non-custody case could be displaced if necessary to accommodate it. Vincent Heneghan BL said he would discuss the matter with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The judge directed that any alibi defence be notified to the prosecution within 14 days, with relevant names and addresses. Unless the court granted leave, the accused could not call defence witnesses without giving notice 21 days before trial.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.