THE SPECIAL Criminal Court in Dublin was yesterday shown a video of three masked men, including one carrying an AK 47 rifle, who told BBC journalists they were the Real IRA and "capable of waging war against the British state."
The court was told the interview was carried out by the BBC's Spotlight and Panorama journalists at a house in Creggan, Derry, the night before four men were arrested by gardaí near Bridgend, Co Donegal.
A detective garda identified two men photographed standing in a doorway while the interview was going on as two of the four Derry men accused of IRA membership.
Det Garda Kevin Moriarty identified Gary Donnelly and Martin Francis O'Neill as the two unmasked men seen in photos printed from a camera memory card.
The four Derry City men on trial are Gary Donnelly (38), Kildrum Gardens, Michael Gallagher (28), Sackville Court, Martin Francis O'Neill (40), Colmcille Court, and Patrick John McDaid (38), Marlborough St. They have pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oghlaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA, on March 16th.
The three-judge non-jury court watched 25 minutes of a 52-minute film taken last March. In the video three men are seen wearing balaclavas, combat jackets and gloves. Two of the men are seated at a table and one stands behind them carrying an AK 47 assault rifle.
The trial is expected to last until the end of January.