Dublin man jailed for five years for IRA membership

A convicted IRA member who was questioned by members of a Belfast brigade over a botched operation to buy €20,000 in forged bank notes has been jailed for five years.

Robert Day (47), of St Attracta Road, Cabra, Dublin, was convicted on June 1st this year of membership of an unlawful organisation within the State styling itself as the Irish Republican Army otherwise Oglaigh na hÉireann otherwise the IRA on October 9th, 2015.

At a brief hearing of the Special Criminal Court on Monday, Justice Robert Eagar presiding, with Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge James Faughnan, sentenced Day to five years’ imprisonment, backdated to June 1st when he went into custody.

Justice Eagar said Day was a member of the IRA in Dublin since the age of 18 or 19, and in 2014 he was involved in an operation to buy €20,000 worth of forged €50 bank notes for €2,200 in legitimate money.

Gardaí foiled the operation, and Day was convicted under the Theft Act for possession of forged notes. In August 2015 members of a Belfast brigade, concerned that a number of operations had been foiled by gardaí, questioned Mr Day and others at a house in Castleknock, Dublin, to find out who was responsible.

Justice Eagar said the IRA in Dublin and north of the Border remained active, and that membership of the organisation was a serious offence. The maximum sentence for membership was eight years, but the court felt that five years would be appropriate in this case.

The court then looked at aggravating factors – Day was on bail at the time of the offence and has two previous convictions. Justice Eagar said a mitigating factor was that Day was heavily involved in his mother’s care.