Laurence Murphy and Ray Kennedy acquitted of IRA membership

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

Laurence Murphy and Ray Kennedy were acquitted of IRA membership at the Special Criminal Court on 5 December 2019.

The court ruled that evidence based on a chief superintendent’s belief was inadmissible because Garda privilege over its underlying material created unfairness for the defence.

The ruling could affect future prosecutions involving alleged membership of unlawful organisations, although it did not form a precedent at that stage.