Mark McCourt jailed for 12 years over gun-running ring

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

Mark McCourt was jailed for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court for his role in importing firearms and ammunition into Ireland for criminal organisations. He had pleaded guilty to six charges relating to facilitating a criminal organisation between February 2023 and July 2024.

The court heard that weapons were bought in Nevada, smuggled into Ireland in parts and reassembled. Gardaí found 82 gun components in a shed in Co Louth; assembled, they made six assault rifles and 12 pistols. McCourt offered a prospective customer 10 pipe bombs as a free addition to a €75,000 deal for guns and ammunition.

The sentencing judge described the offending as serious and said McCourt was caught “red handed”. The court imposed a 12-year sentence for arms smuggling, based on a 15-year headline sentence with a 20 per cent reduction for his early guilty plea. Concurrent 10-year terms were imposed on four firearms possession charges; the remaining indictment counts were taken into account.