Shocking detail of explosives discovery
Court told rockets and semtex were among items at Courtown property
SHOCKING details have emerged for the first time of the extent of the explosives found at a house in a quiet residential estate in Courtown last year.
The quiet Harbour Court estate was evacuated on May 13, 2015, when armed gardaí raided the house. Details of what was found inside were revealed at the Special Criminal Court trial of Ryan Glennon (25), of Macken Villas, Macken St, Dublin. He pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the IRA. The prosecution alleged that there is evidence connecting the accused man to the property.
The court heard that items found at the house included: four improvised steel rockets; 75g of a substance believed to be Semtex; 4.8kg of pyrotechnic powder; electric switches and detonators; battery clips; and circuit boards. It was believed that these items were to be used in an improvised explosive device.
Also found were fertiliser, gardening gloves and a steel tube with a number of holes drilled through it.
ROCKETS and explosives were found during a search of a house in Courtown last year, the Special Criminal Court trial of a Dublin man accused of IRA membership heard last Friday.
Ryan Glennon (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 Harbour Court, Courtown, and that there is evidence connecting the accused man to the property.
On the second day of the trial on Friday, Detective Garda Shane Curran of the Garda Technical Bureau told prosecuting counsel Tara Burns SC that he examined items found at the house on the day in question.
Inside a green water butt, a large barrel used for catching and storing rainwater, were four improvised steel rockets, he said. The rockets were prototypes for designing a launching missile to deliver an explosive payload, the court heard.
The detective said that he also found 75g of a substance he believed to be Semtex, a plastic explosive, as well as 4.8kg of pyrotechnic powder. He went on to describe a number of other items, including electric switches and detonators, battery clips and circuit boards. It was his opinion, he said, that these items were to be used in an improvised explosive device, or IED.
The court heard that the detective also examined items found in a crate in the kitchen. These were fertilizer, gardening gloves and a steel tube with a number of holes drilled through it, he said, adding that the items were to be used in the construction of an IED.
Sergeant Eamon Ryan told Ms Burns that on March 14, 2015, he was on patrol in Finglas, when he saw the accused and two others standing at the bottom of a park at Violet Hill. It was an ‘unusual place for three men to be gathered’, he said.
On the opening day of the trial on Thursday, prosecuting counsel Ms Burns said that the court would hear the belief evidence of a Garda Chief Superintendent that Mr Glennon was a member of an illegal organisation on the date in question.
She said the court would also hear supporting evidence of that belief relating to a search of the property at Courtown. She said the court would also hear evidence of garda surveillance of Mr Glennon and two other individuals carried out on May 9, 2015. The same three people were also seen together by gardai on dates in March and April, 2015.
Counsel said that during interviews carried out after his arrest, Mr Glennon failed to answer material questions and the court would be entitled to draw inferences from that.
Detective Sergeant Daniel O’Driscoll, Special Detective Unit, said that he was part of a team that searched the house at Harbour Court. He also saw the green water butt, and when the lid was removed, he saw a plastic bag and other items. He also saw a lunch box which had been adapted with a switch on it. He had experience of similar adapted lunch boxes.
In the kitchen he saw plastic bags, a grey canvas bag and white protective suits. He said that gardai called the Explosive Ordnance Disposal from the Defence Forces and evacuated the house and nearby premises for safety.
The trial before Mr Justice Robert Eagar, presiding, with Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain and Judge James Faughnan, resumes this morning, Tuesday, and could last two weeks.