Michael Connolly acquitted of IRA membership in Dundalk

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

Michael Connolly was acquitted of IRA membership at the Special Criminal Court on 24 June 2019.

Connolly, of Grange Drive in Dundalk, County Louth, had denied membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the IRA.

The court found it could not rely on Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan’s belief evidence as independent of the investigation. It also found that Connolly’s silence during interviews and association evidence did not provide independent supporting evidence.

The acquittal followed a retrial after an earlier conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in June 2018.