weapons, The IRA, dissident republicans, Springfield Road in west Belfast

An examination confirmed the missile launcher is a military grade RPG 7 device with an accompanying warhead, police said.

Police say the discovery at a property on Hawthorn Street, off the Springfield Road in west Belfast on Tuesday, had saved lives.

A PSNI spokesman said it was a significant seizure that demonstrated the aim of a dissident terrorist campaign.

"It also displays the callous disregard these small groups have for the lives of those in local communities, given where it was stored and its potential (to) injure or kill anyone in the vicinity of where it would have been fired," they added.

A security alert was sparked after "a suspect explosive device" was found at a property in the area and up to ten homes were evacuated.

It was later confirmed that officers from the Serious Crime Branch found the military style weapons while conducting the search as part of an investigation into ongoing dissident terrorist activity.

Police will continue to use every lawful means to disrupt and dismantle groups committed to violence.

PSNI spokesperson

The seizure is still under investigation and further examination of the items is currently taking place.

"We would ask everyone in the community to work with us to remove these weapons from our streets," the spokesperson added.

"We would appeal for anyone with information about any such activity to contact us so that we can protect life and property and bring offenders before the courts."

Earlier this month Gardaí in Co Tipperary intercepted a suspected dissident republican haul of rocket launchers and explosives, which were believed to be en route to Northern Ireland.

Politicians have condemned those behind the storing of the weapons.

SDLP MLA for West Belfast Councillor Colin Keenan lives in the area where the weapons were found.
"Those who possess such cynical and dangerous weapons aimed to cause destruction are trapped in a negative mind-set. They do not reflect the views of the wider community who want to move forward," he said.

SDLP MLA for West Belfast Alex Attwood added: "The weapons that have been seized represented a very serious threat in themselves and confirm the continuing threat of dissident violence."

This find should give even greater encouragement to all of the community to assist the police whose good work has helped save lives.

SDLP MLA Alex Attwood

Ulster Unionist Policing Board Member Ross Hussey MLA welcomed the seizure by police.

Mr Hussey said: "The news of this seizure means that a lethal weapon has been removed from the streets and from the hands of terrorists who would have used it to cause death and destruction.

"Three weeks ago the Gardai in Co Tipperary seized a number of similar rocket launchers believed to be destined for the Real IRA in Northern Ireland and I commend the work of both the PSNI and the Gardai in combating the threat posed by violent criminal gangs.

"These seizures are tangible proof of the serious threat which these terrorist groups pose and I would appeal to all those who wish to see a peaceful future for Northern Ireland and its people to give no crumb of comfort or support to those who wish to divide and destroy this society."

West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said the find was a very worrying development that the community has been shocked by.

"I am glad that this is now off the streets and that no one will be hurt by this particular weapon," he said.

"I think we're very lucky that this weapon was never deployed on our streets because I have no doubt that many people could have lost their lives if this rocket had have been fired.

"People are saying this is not in their name, they do not want to see this in our community and are calling for dissident republicans to desist in what they are doing."

DUP MLA Jonathan Craig has praised the PSNI for seizing the weapons.

He said the seizure showed that there are still some people within our society who are determined to drag us backwards.

"The police serve our community and put themselves in danger doing so. Any successful action which removes dangerous weaponry from terrorists should be welcomed by all those committed to democracy and the rule of law.

"Community co-operation with the police is an essential component of an intelligence-led campaign against the dissident Republican criminals," Mr Craig, the party's Group Leader on the NI Policing Board, added.

Justice Minister David Ford congratulated the PSNI for recovering the military grade lethal artillery.

Minister Ford said: "It is clear that such a weapon had the potential to cause death and serious injury especially in a built up area.

"There is no place for any illegal weapons in our society and I would urge anyone with information to pass it to the police or anonymously to Crimestoppers."

Brian Walsh (43), Anthony Carroll (30), Real IRA Cork, Cork arrests, 32 County Sovereignty Movement, Togher Garda station, Section 30, dissident republicans

Two Cork men have appeared before a special sitting of the Special Criminal Court tonight charged with membership of the IRA and firearms offences.

Brian Walsh (43) and Anthony Carroll (30) were arrested on Saturday afternoon in the Dean Rock area of Togher by detectives from Togher Garda Station as part of an investigation in to the activities of dissident republicans.

Mr Walsh, with an address at Connolly Road, Ballyphehane, and Mr Carroll, of Curraheen Close, Bishopstown, were both charged before the non-jury court with membership of an unlawful organisation within the State styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on February 23rd, 2013.

The pair were charged with the unlawful possession of a Walther PI 9mm calibre semi-automatic pistol and a Smith & Wesson .22mm Magnum calibre revolver with the serial number AEM 2000 at Deanrock Avenue, Togher, on the same date.

The men were also charged with the unlawful possession of a magazine together with six rounds of 9mm calibre ammunition suitable for use with the Walther pistol, and six rounds of .22 long rifle rounds of ammunition suitable for use in a Smith & Wesson .22 magnum calibre revolver at the same address on the same date.

Detective Garda Barry Duggan told State Solicitor Mr Liam Mulholland that he formally arrested Brian Walsh shortly before four o?clock this afternoon on Tramore Road, Cork.

He told Mr Mulholland that at the time of the arrest he believed the accused man had committed the offences of which he is charged.

Det Gda Duggan said that he explained to Walsh the reason for his arrest in ordinary language and cautioned him. He said the accused man, who appeared before the non-jury court dressed in a fawn jacket and dark trousers, replied ?I was expecting this? to the caution.

Detective Brendan Murray told Mr Mulholland that he formally arrested Anthony Carroll shortly before 4pm today in Cork city.

He said that Mr Carroll, who appeared before the court dressed in red Munster rugby jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms, made no reply after caution.

There was no application for bail and Mr Mulholland said the State wished to reserve its position with regard to legal aid.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler, sitting with Judge Margaret Heneghan and Judge Flannan Brennan, remanded both men in custody with liberty to apply for bail to appear in front of the court on March 5th.

Real IRA Cork, Cork arrests, 32 County Sovereignty Movement, Togher Garda station, Section 30, dissident republicans

Gardaí in Cork have foiled what they believe was a dissident republican operation when they arrested two men and recovered a quantity of firearms on Saturday afternoon (23/2/2013).

Detectives arrested the two men after observing a van acting suspiciously in the Deanrock area of Togher on Cork's southside.

Following a search of the van gardaí recovered two loaded handguns and ten gallons of petrol which they believe were to be used in an attack.

Detectives arrested the two men - one aged 43 and one aged 30 - under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and brought them to Togher Garda station.

The men - who are understood to be members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement which has links with the Real IRA - can be questioned for up to 72 hours.

Garda technical experts are carrying out forensic examinations on the weapons and vehicle.
Gardaí believe they have foiled a significant dissident operation.

"We're still not clear at this stage what was being planned but given what we found in the van, it seems likely that they were up for something big," said one Garda source.

Gardaí later carried out a series of follow up searches at the homes of known dissident republicans on both the north and south sides of the city.

Liam Campbell Extradition

Liam Campbell Extradition

Lithuanian authorities have failed in a bid to overturn a decision refusing the extradition of a high-profile dissident republican to face weapons smuggling charges.

High Court judges backed an earlier ruling that Liam Campbell would be held in inhuman and degrading conditions in the Baltic state.

But although they directed that the 49-year-old should be discharged after nearly four years in custody, he will remain behind bars until at least next week.

A lawyer for the Republic of Lithuania confirmed plans to appeal the latest verdict to the Supreme Court in London.

Campbell, of Upper Faughart, Dundalk, was one of the men held liable for the Omagh bombing.

He is wanted in Lithuania over allegations he was part of an operation to acquire guns, ammunition and explosives from there and ship them into Ireland for dissident republicans.

His lawyers resisted extradition proceedings by arguing that it would breach his human rights.

They brought in a special adviser to the British Home Office and the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) as part of their case.

Professor Rod Morgan visited Lukiskes Jail in Vilnius and delivered a critical assessment of prison regimes in Lithuania.

Last month, a judge refused to order the extradition after studying details of severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at Lukiskes.

He ruled that Campbell would be at real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment by reason of the jail conditions. Counsel for the Lithuanian authorities challenged that decision by claiming it was based on out of date information.

A panel of senior judges was told Prof Morgan's visit was in May 2010, with no evidence of the current position.

However, Lord Justice Girvan held that problems identified by the CPT have not been resolved and, in some respects, are worsening.

He said: "In a continuing situation demonstrating deterioration rather than improvement and an economic situation showing a lack of resources to counter that trend, the common sense inference to be drawn is that the conditions already condemned as inhuman and degrading by Strasbourg still prevail, at least in parts of the prison to which the returned person may very well be exposed."

The judge, sitting with Lord Chief Justice Morgan and Lord Justice Coghlin, held that extradition would infringe on Campbell's human rights.

Dismissing the appeal, he added: "We must accordingly order the discharge of the prisoner."

Campbell has been in prison since he was arrested after crossing the border into south Armagh in May 2009. A month later he was found liable, along with convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, for the Omagh bombing.

That ruling followed a landmark civil action brought by relatives of some of the 29 people killed in the August 1998 atrocity.

According to the judge at the time there was cogent evidence that Campbell was a member of the Real IRA's Army Council.

Two other men originally held responsible, Dundalk-based builder and publican Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, from Culaville, Co Monaghan, are currently facing a civil retrial after the findings against them were overturned on appeal.

On Friday, as Campbell listened to the verdict via video-link from Maghaberry Prison, his barrister Barry Macdonald QC confirmed he would be seeking bail.

But Gerald Simpson QC, for the Lithuanian authorities, argued that the requested person should remain in custody while a further challenge is prepared.

"My instructions are to indicate to your Lordships that we intend to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court," he said.

With the bail hearing adjourned until Tuesday, Campbell will be kept in prison until then.

Anthony Thomas Friel, 31, pleaded guilty to possessing the explosive devices

Appearing in the dock of Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Anthony Thomas Friel, 31, pleaded guilty to possessing the explosive devices and component parts with intent to endanger life on 21 May last year.

Friel, from Gartan Square in the city, also pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing for a terrorist purpose, on the same date, namely an eye shield and visor, a mini rotary tool kit, drill bits, a heat gun, various tools and electrical material, berets, worksuits, gloves, plastic boxes, Bentley electronic timer instructions, batteries and duct tape.

A previous court heard how the bombs, bomb parts and other items were uncovered in a flat on Maureen Avenue in Derry after police stopped Friel's taxi and found three sets of keys to the flat.

A police officer told the court in a failed bail hearing that she believed the flat was used for the storage and manufacture of the explosive devices, adding that it was devoid of the usual items one would find in a lived-in property such as a bed, food and other personal effects.

Following Friday's guilty pleas, Friel was remanded back into custody and Judge David McFarland said he would sentence him in April after the Easter vacation when pre-sentence probation reports had been compiled.

dundalk arrests

The searches took place at a number of properties in the Dundalk area in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The arrested men, one in his 30s and one in his 70s, are being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 at Drogheda Garda station.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said: "The operation is not directly related to the investigation into the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe."

The police officer died after being fatally shot by a gang of robbers at the Lordship Credit Union near Dundalk last month.

omagh bomb, civil trial, Colm Murphy, Seamus Daly, real ira

omagh bomb, civil trial, Colm Murphy, Seamus Daly, real ira

Lawyers for Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly claimed the lawsuit against them should be thrown out due to a lack of evidence.

Both men are defending an action over allegations that they played central roles in the Real IRA attack in August 1998.

Relatives of some of the 29 people killed in the atrocity brought proceedings against them in an attempt to have them held liable.

Murphy, a Dundalk-based contractor and publican, and former employee Seamus Daly, from Culaville, Co Monaghan, were ordered to face a civil retrial after their appeals against being found responsible for the bombing were upheld.

Two other men held liable in the initial landmark ruling in 2009, convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt and fellow dissident republican Liam Campbell, failed to have the findings against them overturned
During the new hearing in front of Mr Justice Gillen lawyers for the victims' families contended that Murphy supplied mobile phones to the bomb team.

Although he is not suspected of being in Omagh on the day of the bombing, a phone registered to him can be traced to within 5km of the town an hour before the blast, according to the plaintiffs' case.

Analysis of mast coverage led to the location being made.

Daly is allegedly linked by a call he allegedly made on one of the phones just after the explosion.

They have been challenged by senior counsel for the families to come to court and testify over the alleged telephone links.

Both men deny the claims against them, but there has been no indication yet that either will give evidence.
On Tuesday their barristers sought a direction that they have no case to answer.

Dermot Fee QC, for Murphy, argued that the plaintiffs have failed to produce sufficient evidence against his client.

It was accepted that a phone registered to the builder travelled from the Republic to the vicinity of Omagh on the day of the bombing.

But Mr Fee contended that this proved nothing.

Murphy was not in possession of the phone or involved in the bomb plot, it was claimed.

According to Daly's lawyers there is even less evidence connecting him to the attack.

The case continues.

Dissident republicans, real ira, the ira, colin duffy, alan ryan, drug dealers, east tyrone ira

While a number of lesser players associated with the murder of Real IRA gangster Alan Ryan have been arrested and charged by Gardai, it is thought unlikely that the Provo Hit-man who fired the gun will ever be brought to justice. It is known that both a north Dublin Drug gang and the Continuity IRA had put  a bounty on Alan Ryan’s head, following a number of attacks on members of the drug gang and the murder and shooting of members of Continuity IRA by Alan Ryan’s gang.

Alan Ryan’s gang has now been taken under the control of The IRA leadership in East Tyrone. A number of splinter groups are now under the control of IRA Chief of Staff, Colin Duffy and his IRA Army Council.

Detectives arrested a 26-year-old man from Coolock during the week in relation to the killing. He had just been released from prison where he was serving a short sentence for road traffic offences when gardai arrested him. He was previously pepper sprayed by gardai in a driving incident in Coolock in October 2011.

At the time he was with Jonathan Gill (31), from Malahide Road in Dublin, who this week was named as a leader of an organised crime gang in Dublin. The 26-year-old arrested this week, who has convic-tions for drug dealing, is the fifth person to be arrested in relation to the killing. The arrest comes after Gill and his associate Paschal Kelly (47) - originally from Coolock - were arrested in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, earlier this month and charged with possession of criminal property.

Cash

They were told by a judge in the North that they would not get bail after PSNI officers outlined in court how the two men were a flight risk and had access to large quantities of cash. The joint PSNI/Garda operation recovered sums of €65,826 and £2,669 (stg) in cash along with 24 mobile phones.

They also found a passport which had a photograph of Kelly but had the name Brendan Duffy which was the name Kelly gave police when he was stopped. The court heard the apartment the men were staying in had been rented by Anthony Heaney who in a witness statement told officers he had sublet it to Kelly.

Explaining how he believed the men were a flight risk, a PSNI officer said: "We believe these people are leaders of a criminal gang." The court also heard of an active threat to Kelly's life. Judge Gerard Trainor described Kelly as a "seasoned, practised criminal" with convictions for robbery and escaping lawful custody.

The men were refused bail and remanded in custody to appear again at Fermanagh Court by video link from Maghaberry Prison on March 11. It is understood both Kelly and Gill are under threat from dissident republicans. Many of Ryan's former associates have been booted out of the dissident group since his killing. Belfast man Fat Deccy Smith, who was a close pal of Ryan, was shot in the leg by the terror group in Dublin in January.

The dissident organisation, who are calling themselves the IRA since a merger with other republican groups, booted Smith out after accusing him of keeping extortion money that should have been sent up the North.

Punishment

Another associate, Nathan Kinsella, was shot in the knee by the group in November last year. Both punishment attacks were carried out as part of what was described as "in-house cleaning" of the Dublin branch of the IRA. Several other key Ryan associates have been kicked out as part of the restructuring process.

Reports this week suggested three men have now been appointed to direct operations in the capital. The middle-aged men live in Finglas, Coolock and Tallaght. Meanwhile, locals in Sligo say former associates of Ryan have been making extortion demands in the county. Gardai stopped four men, including two brothers from Dublin, were arrested in Castlebaldwin last month and found balaclavas in their car.

The arrest happened shortly after four masked men called to the family home of a man demanding €40,000. The men arrested had links to Sligo man Aaron Nealis, a pal of Alan Ryan, who was shot in the leg during the attack on Ryan. The brothers who were arrested are from Baldoyle. One of them has been involved in drug dealing. Gardai previously found one kilo of cocaine belonging to the drug dealer at his then-girlfriend's house in Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin. Sources said he has also robbed Nigerian drug dealers using the name of the Real IRA. His mother was jailed in England in 2004 after she was caught up in a multi-million euro international drug network run by British gang boss Owen Clarke.

Affair

Sources in Sligo say the group has been making a number of extortion demands in the county using the name of the IRA even though most of Ryan's former cronies have been kicked out of the organisation. Locals also claim a businesswoman living in Sligo was having an affair with Ryan at the time of his murder.

Other key associates of Ryan in Dublin have been living in fear since his killing. Two well-known members, originally from the northside of the city, have been living together in the south city in recent weeks. Gardai recently warned one of the men his life is in danger. Homes of both men have been attacked since Ryan's murder.

Dissident republicans, real ira, the ira, colin duffy, alan ryan, drug dealers, east tyrone ira

Bryan Christopher Mc Manus entered a guilty plea as he appeared at Belfast Crown Court

Latest: 43 and 44 year old men arrested in Derry for alleged Dissident Activity

Latest: Shankill Butcher, Sean Kelly, released without charge in relation to shooting child in north Belfast

Bryan Christopher Mc Manus entered a guilty plea as he appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.

McManus, 56-year-old, admitted possessing eight handguns, including one disguised as the handle of a walking cane, a rifle, component parts of weapons, and seven magazines and assorted ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The engineer from Aileen Terrace in the city also pleaded guilty to conspiring with another person to convert imitation guns into firearms between September 2007 and 2010.

He is further charged with possessing property for a terrorist purpose, including a book entitled 'Home Workshop Prototype Firearms', blank cartridges, and a lathe.

It is understood to be the first time a charge of terrorist fundraising will be successfully prosecuted in Northern Ireland.

Detectives uncovered the guns and ammunition at outbuildings behind McManus's Newry home in September 2010.

He had previously admitted that the large scale munitions factory had been manufacturing and modifying component parts for guns on behalf of dissident republican terrorists since 2008.

Although McManus did not name the terrorists, he suspected they were connected to the Real IRA.

Police welcomed McManus's guilty plea and said the seizure of the weapons undoubtedly prevented the commission of serious offences.

Judge David McFarland granted him bail but said that was "no indication" of the sentence he would face next month.

belfast shooting, dissident republicans, real ira

belfast shooting, dissident republicans, real ira

As an 18-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in both legs in Belfast, we must ask who carries out this activity and why? The simple answer is that those who engage in such activity are normally Informers who are allowed to engage in low level activity such as mutilations in order to gain access to information about paramilitary groups.

This type of activity ensures silence in the community, so that women and children who have been raped by members of paramilitary groups will not speak out about their sexual abuse or rape. This was a tactic used by The Provisional IRA/Sinn Fein, people like Gerry Adams Snr was able to rape dozens of children, knowing that he would be protected by Sinn Fein/PIRA. Liam Adams and many more used this tactic to silence their victims. If these mutilators were anything other than cowards they would use their guns on the British military, not vulnerable children.

Freddie Scappittini was the Provisional IRA’s main ‘mutilator’ and as we know he was a senior British Informer for almost 30 years, Dennis Donaldson and Martin McGuinness often sought to have people silenced, both are now known to have been British agents. A Provo paedophile ring operated out of Drumargh Park in Armagh and was led by a man originally from Monaghan town, he was also an RUC informer. In Newry, Sinn Fein activist Michael Marron was sentenced for child rape when his victim stood up to the Provo bullies.

The latest child to fall victim to the hooded informers was targeted at Ardoyne Avenue in the north of the city at about 8.30pm last night. A spokesperson for the PSNI said the attack was a suspected paramilitary-style shooting. A 39-year-old man was arrested and is being questioned about the shooting.

alan ryan murder 5th arrest

A man in his 20s has been arrested over the murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan.

The man was detained in the Dublin area this morning and taken in for questioning at Coolock Garda station.

The latest arrest was made under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

This is the fifth arrest as part of the investigation into the killing.

Ryan, who had served time in prison for firearms offences linked to his membership of the Real IRA, was shot on the afternoon of September 3rd at Grange Lodge Avenue, Clongriffin, north Dublin.

In recent years he had emerged as a key player in the organisation in Dublin, fundraising by extorting publicans and drug gangs, many of his Real IRA associates were involved in Class A drug use themsleves.

Gardaí believe one of the Dublin organised crime gangs with whom he had come into conflict was behind his murder.

Gerry Adams td, sinn fein, healthcare, private healthcare, medical expenses, tax exemption, American healthcare, USA healthcare

Adams Private Healthcare a Pain in the Assets

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams is examining whether any tax is due on an American businessman’s payment of medical expenses for him in the US. Initially Gerry Adams TD had explained his private medical care treatment a sbeing something he had paid for out of his own pocket, however, it has now emerged that the $30,000 BILL was picked up by provo cheer leader BILL Flynn. While dozens of Irish people lay on hospital trolleys in the Louth constituency that Adams allegedly represents, Adams was being treated to Private Healthcare in the USA.

This writing appeared on the walls in Dundalk after it was revealed that Gerry Adams TD had protected his child rapist brother Liam Dominic Adams.

Gerry Adams TD who criticised the Government for supporting private Healthcare is again exposed as a hypocrite.

Bill Flynn, former chief of life insurance giant Mutual of America, is estimated to have paid €30,000 late last year for Mr Adams’s prostate procedure.

The Sinn Féin leader, who is TD for Louth, is tax-resident in the State, according to a party spokesman.

The Irish Observer asked yesterday whether Mr Adams planned to seek an exemption from gift tax on grounds that Mr Flynn’s payment was to defray medical expenses.

“Mr Adams is consulting with his tax advisers as to whether any taxation arises from this medical procedure, and if there is an issue he will ensure that he is fully tax-compliant,” the Sinn Féin spokesman replied.

In general, gift tax applies where the person making the gift or the recipient is resident or ordinarily resident in the State at the date of the gift.

However, gifts received exclusively for the purpose of discharging the qualifying expenses of a person permanently incapacitated due to physical infirmity can be exempted.

The gift recipient must apply to Revenue to avail of this exemption, said a Revenue spokeswoman, who stressed she was speaking generally and not referring to any individual case.

Mr Adams told RTÉ interviewer Marian Finucane last weekend that the procedure in the US was to deal with a “long-standing and very painful complaint”.

Gerry Adams td, sinn fein, healthcare, private healthcare, medical expenses, tax exemption, American healthcare, USA healthcare

johnathan gill, collock gang, real ira, alan ryan murder, real ira dublin,

A DUBLIN man arrested in Northern Ireland this week with false passports and €60,000 in cash is in protective custody in jail over fears the Real IRA plan to whack him.

johnathan gill, collock gang, real ira, alan ryan murder, real ira dublin,

Jonathan Gill is on a Real IRA death list after the dissidents declared war on north Dublin gangsters in the wake of the murder of its former leader Alan Ryan.

The 31-year-old was charged with a money laundering offence in Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday and is due to appear

there again next week.

Authorities in Northern Ireland fear the well-spoken man could be attacked by revenge-thirsty dissidents and have placed him in isolation for his own protection. Gill is the subject of a massive garda investigation because of his suspected involvement in money laundering on behalf of a criminal gang based in Coolock.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is in the final stages of a massive investigation into Gill and are likely to hit him with a demand for a five-figure sum for undeclared income.

Infiltrate

He is also being investigated by gardai with a view to bringing charges before the special criminal court under antigangland legislation, which would see him go on trial without a jury.

Despite being suspected of being a serious player in the Coolock gang's schemes, Gill has had no serious charges brought against him and only has a handful of convictions for road traffic offences.

Gardai have identified at least 12 hard core members of the gang and say it is extremely tight-knit and disciplined and is almost impossible to infiltrate. Sources say that Jonathan Gill, or 'Giller' as he is known, is a "very clever operator". He is from the Malahide

Road in Dublin and comes from a very respectable family.

He no longer lives at the family home and spends his time moving between various addresses in Skerries, Rush and Swords. He is said to be "extremely conscious of surveillance" by gardai and is hard to keep tabs on.

Gill attended school in leafy Clontarf and teachers regarded him as being very smart.

He is involved in a long-term relationship with a woman from Clontarf and is said to be a devoted boyfriend and very good to his friends, although he is said to bear grudges and is "highly strung".

BLOODBATH: Cops try to resuscitate Alan Ryan

BLOODBATH: Cops try to resuscitate Alan Ryan

Gill first came to garda attention when, in his mid teens because of his association with serious criminals and has been on the gardai's radar ever since.

The gang Gill is involved with is just one of a number that have been targeted by the Real IRA in a bid to get revenge for Alan Ryan's murder last September.

The Real IRA kingpin was shot dead close to his home in Donaghmede on the orders of a criminal from north Dublin who is nicknamed 'Mr Big'.

'Mr Big's' gang has been linked to at least seven murders, including the savage petrol station slayings in March 2010 of two innocent cousins who were shot in a case of mistaken identity.

The gang is suspected of controlling the drugs trade in north Dublin and of being behind at least half-a-dozen tiger kidnappings, including one in the northeast last year where several young children were held hostage.

Over the past seven years 'Mr Big's' gang has become the main drug-dealing outfit in Darndale, Coolock and Raheny, on Dublin's northside.

His main rival in the drugs trade was Micka 'the Panda' Kelly, who was shot dead two years ago by Alan Ryan, clearing the way for the mob to take over.

Gardai have linked the gang to several unsolved murders. They suspect the gang was responsible for the kidnap and suspected murder of Patrick Lawlor, who disappeared in Donaghmede in December 2004. It is thought he was shot dead over a drugs debt, but his body has never been found.

Detectives have also linked the gang to the slaying of 22-year-old James Purdue, who was shot dead in Donaghmede in June 2006. Purdue was a low-level drug dealer and was also a close pal of Patrick Lawlor.

Two brothers from Coolock, nicknamed the 'Taliban', act as assassins for 'Mr Big's' gang. They were responsible for the double murder of innocent cousins Mark Noonan and Glen Murphy in Finglas in March 2010.

Two associates of the gang led by 'the Panda' were the actual targets, but Noonan and Murphy were tragically murdered instead.

The 'Taliban' brothers have also been blamed for the double murder of Anthony Burnett and Joseph Redmond in March 2012, after the pair were found shot dead in a car in Dundalk, Co. Louth.

Hatred

DOUBLE HIT: Anthony Burnett and Joseph Redmond were shot dead

DOUBLE HIT: Anthony Burnett and Joseph Redmond were shot dead

'Mr Big' is known to have a serious hatred of gardai and regularly abuses members of the force. He has also been investigated for a number of incidents involving violence, including one attack on a man from Coolock who was left with serious stab injuries to the back.

However, many people are afraid to make complaints against him because they are so fearful about the reputation of the gang.

The mob is conscious of not displaying wealth and they travel around in a fleet of battered cars so as not to attract attention from gardai.

For years, 'Mr Big' and his fellow gang members existed in peace with Alan Ryan and his Real IRA cohorts, with both mobs prepared to turn a blind eye to each other's activities.

However, around Christmas 2011 there was an incident in a well-known night spot in Swords, Co. Dublin, when one of Ryan's lieutenants received a serious beating at the hands of three of Mr Big's associates, who were "out of their heads" on cocaine.

This led to serious bad blood between the two gangs. The Real IRA issued death threats against 'Mr Big' and his senior associates and the gang boss left Ireland for Spain last March.

The following month members of 'Mr Big's' gang collected a cache of guns they had hidden in Balgriffin cemetery and drove to Alan

Ryan's house in Donaghmede with the intention of murdering him.

One of the masked men knocked on the door, but when a woman answered they lost their nerve and fled.This alerted Ryan that his life was under threat and all-out war broke out between the rival mobs.

'Mr Big's' mob decided it was a case of 'kill or be killed' and put an operation in place to get rid of Ryan, believing that the key lieutenants who would replace him were weak.

Between leaving Ireland in March and the time of Ryan's murder in September, gardai believe that 'Mr Big' returned to the country on

three occasions, travelling through Belfast Airport.

There is no suggestion that 'Mr Big' pulled the trigger when Ryan was shot dead, but gardai have identified his associates as being responsible, as has the Real IRA.

While in Spain, 'Mr Big' mixed with several notorious drug dealers including Paul 'Burger' Walsh from Donaghmede, who was a long-time associate of 'the Panda'.

Contacts

His gang has extensive contacts among dealers in Spain and sources its drugs supply from there.

'Mr Big' permanently returned to Ireland in November after it became clear that the Real IRA was too busy with internal struggles to avenge their murdered comrade.

On December 4 'Mr Big' and one of his closest associates were arrested on St James's Street in Dublin's south inner city and gardai believed they had foiled an attempted assassination on up-andcoming drug dealer Greg Lynch.

Noel Noonan, 34, and Thomas McMahon, 31, dissident republican charges, real ira, limerick charges, special criminal court

Noel Noonan, 34, and Thomas McMahon, 31, dissident republican charges, real ira, limerick charges, special criminal court

Two Limerick men have appeared before a special sitting of the Special Criminal Court charged with membership of the IRA.

Noel Noonan, 34, and Thomas McMahon, 31, were arrested on Thursday night near Cahir, Co Tipperary as part of an investigation into the activities of dissident republicans.

Mr Noonan, with an address at North Claughan Rd, Garryowen and Mr McMahon of Ros Fearna, Murroe were charged with membership of an unlawful organisation within the State styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA.

Detective Garda Brendan Tighe told State solicitor Gareth Henry that he formally arrested Mr Noonan at 5pm on Saturday afternoon in Cahir.

He said that at the time of the arrest he believed Mr Noonan had committed the offence of membership of an illegal organisation within the State.

Det Gda Tighe said that Mr Noonan made no reply when the charge was read over to him.

Detective Garda Ronan O'Driscoll told Mr Henry that he formally arrested Thomas McMahon shortly before 6pm in Clonmel.

He said that Mr McMahon replied "okay" after he was charged and cautioned.
There was no application for bail.

However, counsel for both parties, Michael Bowman BL, said it was anticipated such an application would be made at the next hearing of the case.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler, sitting with Judge Margaret Heneghan and Judge Flannan Brennan, remanded both men in custody to appear again on 15 February.

real ira, dissident arrests, the ira, tipperary arrests, explosives, bombs

real ira, dissident arrests, the ira, tipperary arrests, explosives, bombs

Three people arrested in Tipperary were allegedly in possession of three high-grade military style rocket launchers. It is believed that the weapons were destined for The IRA in East Tyrone, where IRA Chief of Staff, Colin Duffy, is intent on launching a spectacular attack on the British security forces, it is also known that a large quantity of high nitrogen fertiliser has been mixed in north Louth, however, due to the on-going high Garda and PSNI presence in that area due to the cold blooded murder of Garda Donohoe the home made 500lb bomb cannot be moved.

Two brothers and an associate were detained on the N24 at Cahir in Co Tipperary on Thursday night, during a major police operation involving elite Garda officers.

Three hand-held rocket launchers - capable of blowing apart armoured personnel carriers and tanks - were taken away for further examinations. Two cars were also seized.

It is believed the swoop followed a surveillance operation targeting dissidents, and it is thought the weapons were en route to Northern Ireland.

A senior Garda officer said: "This is a significant capture. The intention was that they would go up north and would be passed on for further use."

The three men, who are aged in their 30s and are from Co Limerick, are being questioned at Clonmel and Cahir garda stations on suspicion of dissident republican activity, under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939.

They are suspected of being involved in the Real IRA.

"We have full time surveillance operations going on all the time," added a Garda. "There came a point when we moved in and this one came to fruition."

Officers from the elite special detective unit, emergency response unit and other national and local Garda branches were involved in the operation in Tipperary.

The recovered explosives will be subjected to technical and ballistic examinations.

Three men have been arrested in Tipperary in an ongoing Garda investigation into dissident republican activity.

They were arrested last night during an operation on the N24 at Cahir involving members of the Special Detective Unit, other national units and local Garda units.

Three men were arrested at the scene and a number of explosive devices were seized along with two cars, a Garda spokesman said.

He said technical and ballistic examinations were ongoing.

The men are currently detained under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939 at Clonmel and Cahir Garda stations.

alan ryan murder, arrest

A man in his twenties was arrested in Artane in Dublin this afternoon by gardaí investigating the murder of Alan Ryan.

He is being held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007, at Coolock Garda Station.
This is the fourth arrest as part of the investigation into the killing.

Ryan, who had served time in prison for firearms offences linked to his membership of the Real IRA, was shot on the afternoon of September 3rd at Grange Lodge Avenue, Clongriffin, north Dublin.

In recent years he had emerged as a key player in the organisation in Dublin, fundraising by extorting publicans and drug gangs.

Gardaí believe one of the Dublin organised crime gangs with whom he had come into conflict was behind his murder.

garda adrian donohoe murder, suspects, arrests, credit union robbery, reward, an garda siochana, sinn fein, gerry adams td

garda adrian donohoe murder, suspects, arrests, credit union robbery, reward, an garda siochana, sinn fein, gerry adams td

Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information to contact them at the incident room at Dundalk Garda Station on 042-9388470 or the Confidential Line 1800-666111.

Spawn of the Provo Beast

Over a 40 year period up to and including the present day the criminal activity of Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA and their various surrogates have turned the beautiful countryside of south Armagh and its neighbouring counties Monaghan and Louth into a criminal black-spot on the Irish landscape, only a few short months ago Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA criminals kidnapped, butchered and murdered 21 year old Paul Quinn in Monaghan, his cowardly murderers are unlikely to be brought to justice as the Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA crime empire demands silence from those who know about their heinous criminality. Prior to being parachuted into Louth for the last General Election, Gerry Adams TD and his hench-men meet with the leaders of the Real IRA in Louth in order to ensure that Adams would be able to run for election without opposition of interference, in return Adams offered to use his position to demand better conditions for Real IRA prisoners, both in the north and in the Republic.

Adams had decided to run across the border as the embarrassing trial of the paedophile brother he protected is expected to bring much unwanted publicity, Adams had concealed the rape of his 4 year old niece Aine Tyrell (her claims of rape by her father Liam Dominic Adams were accepted by Gerry Adams TD but he failed to go to the authorities either north or south). Adams was also forced to admit that he had concealed the serial child rape crimes of his father Gerry Adams Snr, and to add insult to the injury of the children raped and in order to maintain their silence Gerry Adams TD gave  

The murder of Garda Adrian Donohoe last week has left the good and decent people of the ‘border’ counties stunned and shocked, and it is the legacy of fear embedded in those communities by Provo criminality that may see much needed information being untold as people will be branded touts. While Garda Adrian Donohoe may not have been shot dead by the Provos, we can be certain that it is the Provo legacy of criminality and brutality that created the conditions for the on-going criminality in that area. We can be certain that there is some connection between the murderers of Garda Donohoe and the Provo mafia that continues to operate in the ‘border’ counties. Gerry Adams TD may offer crocodile tears to the family and colleagues of Garda Donohoe, however, the truth is that Adams is a coward who could easily order the murder of Jean McConville and many other innocent men, women and children. Adams likes to brand his crimes as political, however, only the devil himself could described concealing child rape as political.

From the fields and lanes around the Border, the killers of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe sprung.

They fled back to the same lawless territory after the outrage and now this Border Country is where they are seeking to hide from the biggest Garda manhunt since the murder of Veronica Guerin. The Garda are joined in force by their professional colleagues in the PSNI.

The most hunted killers in Ireland are a feral young breed, a new generation of criminals and racketeers whose iron hold over the border has turned a strip of Ireland into an outlaw land.

Reared in a lawless region where criminality is deeply embedded, they have been brought up in the shadow of diesel laundering, tobacco smuggling, murder and rape.

However, the older command are now struggling to control the wild younger generations of gangs that they have spawned. And this week the monster they created became a nightmare of their own making.

Today the multi-million-euro diesel laundering industry is shut down, the tobacco smugglers are grounded and the lawless border has come under the intense and unwelcome spotlight of An Garda Síochána and the PSNI.

Teams of detectives are combing the area for clues to the young outlaws who executed Garda Adrian Donohoe last week at Lordship Credit Union outside Dundalk.

Blue uniforms are knocking at every door and the region's web-like road network and dirt tracks - many of which have been laid by smugglers - are being mapped out in the hunt.

Attention

'Business' has ground to a halt and countless diesel-laundering operations that had before gone un-noticed have come to the attention of a 100-man Garda team intent on leaving no stone unturned in the hunt for the killers.

Sources say there will be no quick arrests of the gang members suspected of being behind the capital murder - the most serious offence that can be committed in the Irish Republic and one which carries a 40-year jail term.

Progress is slow. And currently there is little point in arresting anyone as there is a mountain of work to do before anything of substance can be put to the five that carried out the raid. Those that stole the car to order days previous in Clogherhead and the people who hid, fuelled and later torched the getaway vehicle.

Senior sources say that the car used by the raiders could have used any of 35 different routes through the area known as Bandit Country to make their escape.

It is understood that hours of CCTV footage from a network of winding roads will be painstakingly gone through over the coming weeks to track the car from Lordship, Co. Louth, to Keady, Co. Armagh, where it was burnt out.

The car was torched in a professional job that left nothing save the chassis number, which has identified it as a 2 litre diesel Volkswagen Passat stolen in Clogherhead days previously and stored for the robbery.

Gardai believe it was stolen to order for the raid on Lordship Credit Union last week by local thieves connected to the south Armagh-based gang, who chose a night that a popular barman in Clogherhead was being waked.

Torched

However, the thieves had to break into the house of a couple to take the keys of the vehicle between 11.30pm and 4.30am, so officers are hopeful they have left fingerprints or other forensic evidence.

They are also hoping to pick them up around the area on CCTV footage.

It is believed that the car was stored and the tank filled to prepare it for the raid and Gardai say anyone involved in any aspect of preparing it could be facing capital murder charges or conspiracy to murder.

Across the Border PSNI officers are working to identify gang members who were waiting at Keady to torch the car. Sources say they too will face the most serious charges in connection with the crime.

Bandit Country has been notoriously difficult to police over decades of Provo crime in that part of Ireland. It is made up of a spider's web of winding roads and dirt tracks used by smugglers, and has long been a stronghold of support for the IRA and other criminal gangs involved in fuel smuggling and armed raids.

A lawlessness and criminality is deeply embedded in this region of north Louth and south Armagh, which is mainly Republican.

It was Christened 'Bandit Country' in the early 1970s by Britain's then Northern Secretary Merlyn Rees.

The Cooley and Mourne Mountains straddle the Border and rise up above small villages often divided into two jurisdictions, giving criminals an advantage over police. The area around Culloville, where the man believed to have aimed and fired the shotgun is from, is one such township.

It is divided a number of times by the Border.

The man who built up the mob suspected of having carried out a series of aggravated burglaries and raids on business premises over the past few years is a close associate of a well-known Provo who was once himself a tight associate of Thomas 'Slab' Murphy.

Calculated

The two families fell out after a row which resulted in the murder of one of the gang member's families.

Officers say the suspected gunman is a cold and calculated criminal who has shot at people indiscriminately before during robberies. He has never been so precise in his shot as he was when he aimed the barrel of his shotgun at Garda Donohoe's head in a killing that could only be described as an execution.

He was standing in the shadows of the Lordship Credit Union building while his gang, including an 18-year-old female getaway driver, blocked the exit with the car.

Seconds after Garda Donohoe got out of his vehicle to walk towards the dark coloured vehicle, the assassin raised and secured the shotgun at his shoulder, aimed and blasted the officer in the back of the head.

He then smashed the glass of the unmarked squad car and warned Donohoe's partner Garda Joe Ryan not to get out of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, other gang members rifled through a jeep that a terrified female staff member was due to travel in to lodge the Credit Union takings in a Dundalk bank.

They stole her handbag containing just €4,000 but left behind more cash in the glove compartment.

All were wearing balaclavas and they took off in the direction of the Dublin road at a furious speed.

The female, who Gardai are confident was driving the car, manoeuvred the vehicle through floods, under tight railway bridges and around tight bends, rarely dropping below 100mph. She is believed to be in a relationship with the gunman and an expert driver.

It is understood that the gang, who are holed up in safe-houses, are being closely monitored by surveillance experts and anyone harbouring them will also become the focus of the massive investigation.

The Irish League of Credit Unions has offered a €50,000 reward for information leading to the killers, an incentive that officers believe could help crack the veil of silence that traditionally hangs over Bandit Country.

vincent ryan trial, darragh evans, special criminal court, dissident republicans

A brother of murdered dissident republican Alan Ryan and another man will stand trial at the Special Criminal Court next year for IRA membership.

Vincent Ryan, 22, and his co-accused Darragh Evans, 23, were arrested following paramilitary activity at the funeral of Alan Ryan in early September last year.

The two were also subsequently charged with firearms offensives as part of a garda investigation into the murder of 30-year-old Michael Kelly in Clongriffin on 15 September, 2011.

On 21 September last, the men were charged with possession of an AKM assault rifle and Webley-make revolver MkV1 at Clonshaugh Walk, Coolock, Dublin 17, on 15 September, 2011.

Counsel for the State, Tara Burns BL, this morning told the non-jury court that the accused men are due to stand trial on the firearms offences on 9 October, 2013.

She asked that the membership trial be slated to commence at the conclusion of the former.

Mr Justice Paul Butler said the court would fix 22 October, 2013 for a two-week trial on the membership charge.

He told the men that if they intended to rely on the defence of alibi they must notify the prosecution within 14 days and furnish the relevant names and addresses.

Mr Justice Butler said the men should not without leave of court call anybody to give evidence on their behalf unless 21 days before the day of the trial they give notice of their intention to do so.

The judge, sitting with Judge Margaret Heneghan and Judge Flannan Brennan, remanded the accused men in custody.