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A west Belfast man charged with allegedly plotting the activities of a dissident republican terrorist group has been granted bail to go on holiday to Spain with his wife.
Carl Reilly (42), of Pollard Street, is currently awaiting trial on charges of directing the activities of a terorrist organisation and professing to belong to a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA.
The offences were alleged to have been committed on dates between January 1st, 2014 and October 17th, 2015 at the Carrickdale Hotel in Co Louth.
A prosecution lawyer told Belfast Crown Court on Monday that Mr Reilly had a "record with a relevant conviction" and had been on bail for a considerable period of time on the charges.
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He told Judge Neil Rafferty QC that the case allegedly revolved around an audio recording made at the Carrickdale Hotel between Mr Reilly and his co-accused Paul Philip Crawford.
Mr Crawford (43), of Carrickree Mews, Warrenpoint, Co Down, is awaiting trial on a charge of belonging to the IRA.
The prosecutor added: “The Crown case is that the audio shows that this defendant is a high ranking member of the IRA.
“He was talking about incidents that are in the past and about matters of future planning. This was a structured meeting.”
The lawyer told the court that Mr Reilly's bail application was to go on holiday next month for three days to Benidorm. But he said that the prosecution and police did not know whether the trip was "with a group of friends or with family".
“If it is a group of friends, then police would like to know who they are. There is a very real risk, police say, of reoffending and re-engaging.”
Asked by Judge Rafferty if it was a “boys’ trip or a family trip” Mr Reilly wanted to go on, the prosecutor said they had not been made aware of who the accused was travelling with.
Defence barrister Dessie Hutton informed the court: "It is not a boys' trip. It is a trip with his wife to Benidorm for a period of three days"
Following discussions between the defence and the crown, Judge Rafferty agreed to the application to allow Reilly to travel to Spain next month.
Howver, the application was granted subject to a number of stringent conditions.