Eight Dublin men have appeared before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court charged with membership of the IRA

Eight Dublin men have appeared before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court charged with membership of the IRA.

The men were all arrested on Friday afternoon after a search of a commercial premises in Clondalkin as part of an ongoing Garda investigation in to the activities of dissident republicans.

Kevin Braney,38, Des Christie,49, Eamon McNamee,32, John Brock,40, Darren Murphy,42, Declan Phelan,31, William Jackson,53, and Hubert Duffy, 45, were all charged with membership of an unlawful organisation within the State on 29 March.

The court heard that none of the eight men made any reply when the charges were put to them.

Detective Garda Darren Martin agreed with counsel for Darren Murphy that he noticed Mr Murphy had injuries to his face, including a laceration above the right eye, and that a doctor attended to the accused man during his detention.

Det Gda Martin told Mr Bowman that when he asked Mr Murphy when he sustained the injuries, the accused man told him they occurred during his arrest.

None of the eight men applied for bail.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler, said the court would grant a disclosure order, under Section 56 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, for a copy of any recording of the questioning of the accused men during their detention.

He said the court would also order that a transcript be provided for all parties and would treat this evening's sitting as a trial date in respect of all men.

Mr Justice Butler, sitting with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Judge William Hamill, remanded the eight men in custody with liberty to apply for bail to appear in court on 5 April.

Mr Justice Butler said the court would also recommend that Mr Murphy receive whatever medical treatment required while in custody.