The two men released from Portlaoise Prison yesterday were jailed for relatively minor incidents in violent republicanism. One was involved in a robbery in which £149 and two cartons of cigarettes were stolen from a Dublin off-licence. The other became embroiled in a quayside fracas with Cork gardai during a visit by a British navy ship. Mr Gerard Burke (42), of Dublin, told RTE outside the prison yesterday that "there'd be nobody in there but for a war that's been raging for 27 years in this country".
His crime was driving the getaway car for a raid on O'Brien's off-licence in Sandymount, Dublin, in January 1994. The former soldier waited in the car while his two accomplices, one armed with a stun gun, entered the off-licence and told the manager to open the safe. He told them there was no money in it.
The armed raider then held the stun gun to the manager's head and pulled the trigger. The manager thought he was going to be shot but then felt a shocking sensation. The raider also held the gun to other parts of his body and pulled the trigger. The manager became distressed when reliving the incident to the Special Criminal Court in July 1995.
Mr Burke pleaded guilty and his lawyer said his client wanted to apologise to the manager. His only previous conviction was for assault in 1972. The impression that he might not be a significant criminal was reinforced when it emerged that he had used his own car as the getaway vehicle. He got a four-year sentence and, with standard remission, was due for release in July.
Mr Thomas Flynn was at the quayside in Cork to protest at the presence of a British naval vessel in July of last year. The destroyer, HMS Manchester, was taking part in ceremonies to mark the jubilee of the Irish Naval Service.
The protest got out of hand when, it was alleged, a protester tried to rush on to the destroyer. Gardai intervened and Flynn was charged with assault. An appeal was planned but later dropped and Flynn was jailed for six months earlier this year; he was due for release in October.