A Sligo man pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court yesterday to having home-made explosives at his home last year.
Wayne Kelly (23), a married man, of Cranmore Villas, Sligo, admitted the unlawful possession of 21kg of ammonium nitrate and sugar at his home on September 6th.
Det Sgt Thomas Farragher said that gardaí investigating the activities of the Continuity IRA searched a number of premises in Sligo on September 6th.
During a search of Kelly's attic they found a fertiliser bag inside a supermarket bag which contained a white substance.
Nearby they found a black refuse bag containing another fertiliser bag. The accused accepted that the two bags contained home-made explosives.
Most of the substances found were taken by the Army to Finner Camp for disposal, and when they were exploded they caused a crater six feet in diameter and three feet in depth.
Det Sgt Farragher said Kelly admitted to gardaí that he had put the explosives in his attic two months previously.
He also said that he believed in "the armed struggle" and that he had become involved in "the republican movement" five months previously.
When asked what he thought the explosives were for he replied: "Bombs, I suppose." Det Sgt Farragher agreed with Mr Patrick Gageby SC, counsel for Kelly, that the accused had got mixed up with a certain group of people because of his interest in Irish history.
Kelly gave an undertaking that he would be not associated with any subversive groups in future.
The court remanded him on continuing bail for sentencing tomorrow.