Perhaps the most publicity-shy republican of them all arrived yesterday morning amid a blaring Garda escort to a media frenzy, writes Dan Keenan
Thomas "Slab" Murphy (58) and his Garda escort made their way through the narrow doorway and up two flights of wooden stairs to the court.
No attempt was made to shield him from the prying cameras or from the stares of the many others already in court in connection with a host of relatively minor cases.
This was a man of whom nearly all present had heard but had never seen.
Having removed his flat cap, Murphy sat on a bench which ran along one side of the courtroom in between two officers while dozens of gardaí, some of them heavily armed, remained at the door or on the pavement outside.
Wearing a yellow open-neck shirt, a navy jacket and trousers, he appeared relaxed despite having had his boot laces removed. Judge Flann Brennan, his glasses perched low on his nose, proceeded with a host of other cases, mostly speeding and other traffic offences and one charge of littering.
These hearings continued despite the noisy arrival of nearly two dozen primary school girls to see how the law worked. A few minutes later, Murphy stood before the court while Det Insp Kevin Ring of the Criminal Assets Bureau squeezed into the tiny witness box within a short distance of the judge's right ear.
The detective inspector told the court of Murphy's arrest the previous evening, providing an almost hour-by-hour account of the events in Dundalk, at Drogheda Garda station and at the hospital where the suspect had been taken for examination after chest pains.
Paul Tiernan, for Mr Murphy, did not concur with the Garda witness over some of the events at the hospital. Det Insp Ring said they would agree to disagree.
Applying for bail, Tiernan said his client was a single man of good character and with no previous convictions, who ought not to be detained while a lengthy investigation proceeded.