Fingerprints match man accused of IRA membership

Fingerprints found on a handcart in a house in Courtown match those belonging to a man accused of IRA membership, the Special Criminal Court heard yesterday (Monday).

The court previously heard that gardai found rockets and explosives while searching the premises.

Ryan Glennon, aged 25, of Macken Villas, Macken St, Dublin has pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on May 13, 2015.

It is the prosecution’s case that a large amount of explosives were found at a property in Courtown and that there is evidence connecting the accused man to the property.

Yesterday, Detective Garda Niall Lannon, of the Garda Technical Bureau, told prosecuting counsel Tara Burns that he compared fingerprints on a handcart found in a house at Harbour View, Courtown to Mr Glennon’s.

The detective said there was ‘no doubt’ the prints on the handcart were made by Glennon.

Under cross-examination, he agreed with Hugh Hartnett, defending, that it is not possible to determine a fingerprint’s age and that they can persist for a long period of time.

The court also heard evidence of interviews conducted by gardai with Mr Glennon.

During interviews, detectives invoked Section 2 of the Offences Against the State Act, Detective Garda Alan Fitzgerald, of the Special Detective Unit, told Anne-Marie Lawlor, prosecuting. This section allows a court to draw inferences from a suspected person’s failure or refusal to answer questions regarding alleged IRA membership.

The detective said that Mr Glennon made no comment when asked whether or not he was an IRA member, and he made no comment when asked about the house in Courtown, the court heard.

Earlier, the judges ruled that Mr Glennon’s arrest and detention were lawful. Mr Glennon’s barrister had argued last week that his client had been illegally detained.

The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Robert Eagar, presiding, with Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain and Judge James Faughnan.