The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday reserved judgment on the appeal by convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt against his conviction for directing terrorism.
McKevitt (54), Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Court in August 2003 after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29th, 1999, and October 23rd, 2000. He was the first person to be convicted in the State for the offence, which was introduced after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.
McKevitt also received a six-year concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation - the Real IRA. McKevitt was in court for the appeal, which was also attended by his wife, Bernadette Sands McKevitt.
The four-day appeal centred on issues concerning the reliability of the chief prosecution witness in the trial, FBI agent David Rupert, who infiltrated the Real IRA and attended army council meetings where McKevitt was present.
Senior counsel Michael O'Higgins, for McKevitt, said in his submissions that Rupert was "a deeply avaricious man" who had been paid $1.4 million by the FBI and £400,000 by the British security services. He also said Rupert was a lifelong criminal who had been involved in smuggling drugs, contraband, people and explosives.
Opposing the appeal, senior counsel George Birmingham, for the State, said Mr Rupert had performed the tasks he had agreed to do with "remarkable skill, resourcefulness and courage".
Mr Birmingham said the decision to bring McKevitt to trial was unique in that it involved three states, with three different law enforcement agencies, each with a commitment to the rule of law.
He said the Director of Public Prosecutions had gone to elaborate lengths to ensure McKevitt was given a fair trial.
McKevitt's lawyers appealed on the grounds there was not full and proper disclosure of all material relating to David Rupert and that the Special Criminal Court erred in law by not adequately assessing Rupert's credibility as a witness, despite his history of involvement in criminality.