Seven Dublin men acquitted of IRA membership

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

Seven Dublin men were acquitted of IRA membership by the Special Criminal Court, as reported on 13 March 2015. The men were Kevin Braney, Des Christie, Hubert Duffy, William Jackson, Declan Phelan, John Brock and Darren Murphy.

The acquittals followed a ruling that Garda belief evidence about alleged IRA membership was inadmissible. The prosecution then offered no further evidence, and the judge directed that the men be acquitted.

All seven had denied membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, or IRA. The prosecution had alleged that they were involved in an operation to extort money from a used-car dealer in Clondalkin.