Trial date fixed for Gareth Mulley, David Gallagher and William Burns

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

The Special Criminal Court scheduled the trial of Gareth Mulley, David Gallagher and William Burns for 5 July 2016. Presiding judge Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy fixed the date after Tony McGillicuddy BL applied on behalf of the State. She was told the trial would take two to three weeks. The proceedings were reported on 18 December 2014.

Each man faced a charge of possessing an explosive substance at Kilcurry, County Louth, on 25 May 2014. The alleged items included PETN and RDX, a modified 50-litre beer keg and 50kg of homemade ammonium nitrate explosive. An improvised detonation cord, steel booster tube, and time and power unit were also listed.

Gareth Mulley and David Gallagher faced an additional charge concerning membership, within the State, of an unlawful organisation. The organisation was identified as Oglaigh na hÉireann, also called the Irish Republican Army or IRA.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy issued witness orders and directed that recordings of Garda interviews be supplied to the defence. She gave the men two weeks to raise any intended alibi evidence. Anyone intending to call witnesses had to provide notice 21 days before trial.

William Burns’s bail curfew was lifted following an application by his counsel, Michael Bowman SC. The requested change would allow William Burns to drive a taxi at night in Belfast. Patrick Gageby SC, representing Gareth Mulley, sought a further mention of his client’s case. The judge arranged that mention for 20 January.