Five members of the Real IRA were sentenced to jail at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday. The sentencing went ahead in spite of complaints from defence lawyers about news media reports last weekend.
The leader of the Real IRA in Munster was jailed for five years and nine months, his second in command was jailed for four years and three other members of a Real IRA active service unit were given sentences ranging from three years to four years.
Ciarán O'Dwyer (50), Castletroy View, Limerick; John Murphy (25), Kilbarry, Old Mallow Road, Cork; Ultan Larkin (34), Farranshone, Limerick: Gerard Varian (46), Fairhill, Cork; and Aidan O'Driscoll (26), Ballyvolane, Cork, were all convicted of membership of the "Real IRA" on December 15th, 2003.
O'Dwyer was jailed for five years and nine months, Larkin for four years, Varian for three years, Murphy for four years and O'Driscoll for three years.
They were convicted last week after a 20-day trial. Before the sentence hearing yesterday, David Goldberg SC, for O'Dwyer, complained to the court about a 10- minute item on RTÉ radio's This Week on Sunday which, he said, outlined O'Dwyer's involvement as an IRA quartermaster.
Mr Goldberg also said Sunday's edition of the Irish Daily Star contained a story headlined "Nailed" which also dealt with O'Dwyer's previous convictions and which had photos of O'Dwyer and Larkin taken while in custody.
Mr Goldberg asked the court to stop the sentence hearing and to cite the media outlets for contempt of court.
After a short adjournment, Mr Justice Richard Johnson said the members of the court wished to assure the accused that they had neither heard the radio broadcast nor seen the newspaper article and the court was satisfied that it could properly continue with the sentencing procedure.
Mr Justice Johnson said: "The court is satisfied that each of the accused was an active member of the Real IRA, a dissident organisation that is not on ceasefire. The court views these charges very seriously."
The judge said the court had heard evidence of O'Dwyer's seniority in the Real IRA, his previous convictions and that he had been released early from a 10- year sentence in 1995 under the terms of the peace process.
Supt James Browne told the court last week that O'Dwyer was the "officer commanding" of the Real IRA in Munster, in charge of operations in Cork and Limerick. He said Larkin was his second in command.
Last week Det Supt Tony Quilter, Anglesea Street, Cork, told the court that men belonged to the group known as the Real IRA and that Varian, O'Driscoll and Murphy were an active service unit based in Cork city.
Supt Browne said O'Dwyer was convicted of IRA membership in 1973 and was jailed for a year then. He was also jailed in 1990 for 12 years for possession of ammunition, assault rifles, a handgun and Semtex. He was released in 1995 as part of the Belfast Agreement.
Assistant Commissioner Jerry Kelly gave evidence during the trial that he believed Larkin and O'Dwyer were members of an illegal organisation. Det Chief Supt Michael McAndrew said he believed Varian, Murphy and O'Driscoll were each members of an illegal organisation.
A former lord mayor of Cork, Joe Callaghan, gave evidence on behalf of Varian. He had known him for 12 or 13 years and he was a hard-working man. Mr Callaghan said that Varian had worked for him in the Dáil election in 2002 and had then joined with him and 15 other colleagues when they joined Fine Gael.
Retired garda Dermot Carey said he had known Varian for 10 to 12 years and Varian had worked for him on properties he had.