Five Dublin men convicted of membership of the IRA and jailed since 2005 have lost their High Court challenge to the legality of their detention.
The five are Thomas Gilson (26), of Bawnlea Avenue, Jobstown, Tallaght; Patrick Brennan (43), of Lindisfarne Avenue, Clondalkin; Sean O'Donnell (34), of Castle Drive, Sandymount; John Troy (27), of Donard Ave and Stephen Birney (33), of Conquerhill Road, Clontarf.
In February 2005 they were jailed at the Special Criminal Court after being found guilty for membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on October 11th, 2002. They were jailed for four years and are due to be freed in January next.
They had sought an inquiry into the legality of their detention on the grounds of a recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of a Co Louth man, Barry O'Brien.
Dismissing the men's challenge yesterday, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith Ó Neill ruled their detention is legal.
While Mr Justice Ó Neill said he was satisfied the five men's circumstances were identical to that of Mr O'Brien, and that the Special Criminal Court did not have jurisdiction to try them, the judge said that jurisdiction was "not the real issue".
The fundamental difference between the case of Mr O'Brien and that of the five was that Mr O'Brien had raised the jurisdictional issue from the "earliest opportunity" and had taken judicial review proceedings, the judge said. This was not the case with the five men, who were tried and subsequently convicted.
While they had raised the issue of jurisdiction now, the fact they had not done so "at the earliest opportunity" meant they could not now seek to rely on that point, the judge said. On that basis, he ruled their detention is lawful.