Gardai have expressed concern at a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) earlier this week to accept guilty pleas from six men arrested by gardai at a "Real IRA" arms training camp in 1999.
Charges of possession of weapons under the Firearms Act, which could carry sentences up to life imprisonment, were not pursued and the State accepted pleas of guilty to the lesser offence of drilling or training with firearms.
The offence of training with firearms, under Section 15 of the Offences Against the State Act, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. But it is generally regarded as a lesser offence than unlawful possession of weapons.
The six men include two whom Garda sources regard as senior figures in the "Real IRA". They received four-year sentences.
They were caught by Garda Special Branch officers along with three other men and a teenager at an arms camp in the cellar of the ruins of Herbertstown House near Stamullen, Co Meath.
On Monday three men received sentences of four years and two received three-year sentences.
As they were refused bail after their arrests in October 1999, the men who received four-year sentences could be released before the end of this year. They can qualify for 25 per cent remission for good behaviour. The two who received three-year sentences could be released shortly.
One man was awaiting trial for possessing a loaded pistol when he was arrested at the training camp at Stamullen.
He received a three-year sentence for possession of the pistol and a four-year sentence for drilling at the arms camp was added consecutively to this sentence, so he is effectively serving a seven-year sentence.
On Monday, Seamus McGrane (46), of Little Road, Dromiskin, Co Louth, Seamus McGreevy (47), of Stamullen, Gormanston, Co Meath, and Martin Conlon (31), of Railway Street, Armagh, pleaded guilty to training people to use firearms at Herbertstown, Stamullen, Co Meath. They were each jailed for four years.
Damien Lawless (32), of Nicholas Avenue, Dundalk; Anthony Ryan (25) and his brother, Alan Ryan (20), of Grange Abbey Drive, Donaghmede, Dublin, pleaded guilty to receiving training in firearms on the same date. Lawless and Anthony Ryan were each jailed for three years.
Alan Ryan was jailed for four years. This is to be added to a three-year sentence he is serving for having a loaded revolver at his home in September 1998.
As well as the training and drilling charge, the men had initially been charged with the unlawful possession of a Zastava 7.62mm assault rifle, a CZ model 70.9mm pistol, a CZ model 9mm sub-machinegun and a quantity of ammunition at Stamullen on October 20th 1999. Three others, including a teenage boy, were arrested at the camp.
In March last year Stephen Kelly (18), of North Clarence Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty to participating in training or drilling in the use of firearms and received a suspended sentence. The court heard that Kelly had no previous convictions and came from a good family.
In April last year a Dublin man described as central to, and trusted by, the leadership of the "Real IRA" was given a 10-year suspended sentence by the Special Criminal Court for taking part in a training camp in Co Meath.
John McDonagh (34), a father of four, of St Oliver's Park, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of an assault rifle, a pistol, a sub-machinegun and ammunition at Stamullen. He also admitted participating in training or drilling in the use of firearms on the same date.
Last June a 17-year-old Dublin youth was given a three-year suspended sentence by the Special Criminal Court for taking part in the training camp. He was 15 when he was arrested with the nine others.
A spokeswoman for the DPP said yesterday that the office did not comment on cases.