Man arrested in possession of detonating cord at Dublin hotel, court told

A Northern Ireland man was arrested hours after a massive car bomb was discovered at a Co Dublin hotel last year when detectives found detonating cord in his rented apartment, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Det Insp William Hanrahan of the Garda's Special Detective Unit (SDU) said Samuel Devlin had rented the apartment in the grounds of Finnstown House at Lucan under a false name and was caught virtually "red-handed" in possession of explosives.

He opposed bail for Devlin and said that after his arrest he had refused to give his name, address or date of birth to gardaí. He said Devlin, a native of Co Tyrone, had no family ties in the jurisdiction and had moved to the State in 2002.

He said that the prosecution would allege at the trial that the SDU had received confidential information that Devlin had rented the apartment to carry out an IRA operation at the hotel.

He said gardaí had received a call on Saturday, May 10th last year and a car bomb had been located at the hotel and a wedding party that was under way at the time had to be evacuated.

Devlin was seen returning to his apartment at about 10.15 the next morning and when members of the Emergency Response Unit entered it and arrested Devlin, they found 26m of detonating cord containing the explosive PETN in a computer laptop bag.

Samuel Devlin (55), with an address at Golf Suite, Finnstown House Hotel, Lucan, Co Dublin, is charged with the unlawful possession of the explosive substance (PETN) at the same address on May 11th, 2014.

He is also charged with membership of an unlawful organisation within the State, namely Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA, on May 11th, 2014.

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding at the three-judge court, said Devlin was “a definite flight risk” as he had no ties in the jurisdiction, had rented the apartment under a false name and had refused to give gardaí his name or address.

Devlin was remanded in continuing custody until next February when his trial is due to take place.