Three men remanded on IRA membership and explosives charges

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

Gareth Mulley, William Burns and David Gallagher appeared before the Special Criminal Court on 28 May 2014 and were remanded in custody. All three faced explosives charges, while Mulley and Gallagher also faced IRA membership charges.

Mulley and Gallagher were accused of membership of an unlawful organisation within the State, identified as Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA. They were also charged with unlawful possession of explosives, including PETN, RDX and homemade explosives, following an interception at Kilcurry on 25 May 2014.

Burns was accused of possessing explosives in the Kilcurry area on 25 May 2014. Detective Garda Padraig McManus said that, when he explained the charge to Burns in ordinary language at court, Burns replied: “I didn’t know it was explosives”.

No bail application was made for any of the three men. Legal aid was granted to Mulley following an application by his solicitor David Thompson. All three were remanded to appear again before the Special Criminal Court on 4 June 2014.