Gardai found explosives at a Dublin apartment after three men were arrested in a car close to Dundalk railway station last Saturday, the Special Criminal Court was told yesterday.
One of the men, Mr Darren O'Donogh, was freed on £6,300 bail, despite Garda objections that he would continue to take part in the activities of the "Real IRA".
The three men arrested after detectives stopped the car in Dundalk were Mr Kenneth Patterson (31), a former member of the Defence Forces, his twin brother Alan, both from Finglas, Dublin; and Mr O'Donogh (22), married and unemployed, of Muirhevnamore, Dundalk.
They were charged with the unlawful possession of an explosive substance, one improvised time-and-power unit. The Patterson brothers were remanded in custody and Mr O'Donogh on bail until July 25th.
Det Supt Michael Hoare, Drogheda, said Mr O'Donogh would continue to assist "Oglaigh na hEireann" if granted bail. He said this organisation had carried out several outrages, including the Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed, and outrages in Britain.
The superintendent said Mr O'Donogh was seen parking his car near Dundalk railway station and the two co-accused were seen getting off the train and going to his car. One of them was carrying a hold-all bag and the three men were seen looking at something in the car.
Mr O'Donogh's car was signalled to halt three to four hundred yards from the station but he failed to do so; gardai blocked the road and forcibly removed the three men from the car.
When the car was searched gardai found a time-and-power unit in a hold-all bag and two balaclavas. The time-and-power unit is used to detonate explosives and had two time settings, one for 60 and one for 120 minutes.
Gardai also found a number of plastic boxes with switches attached which could be used as incendiary devices. In follow-up searches at a number of addresses in Dublin gardai found explosives.
But Mr Justice O'Donovan, presiding, said Mr O'Donogh was not charged with membership of an illegal organisation and had a constitutional right to freedom.