A Dublin man who was arrested for membership of the IRA has been granted bail by the Special Criminal Court.
Declan Phelan (32), of Lanndale Lawns, Tallaght, Dublin 24 was granted bail on condition he surrenders his passport /travel documents, signs on daily at Naas Garda Station, agrees not to leave the jurisdiction that includes not travelling to Northern Ireland, observes a curfew between the hours of 12 Midnight and 6.30 am and does not to associate with any person convicted or charged with a scheduled offence.
The accused must also provide a mobile phone number to the Gardaí from a mobile phone provider in the jurisdiction, and the phone is to be left on at all times and be the sole phone used by accused.
Mr Phelan was granted bail on an independent surety of €10,000 and his own bond of €100.
Mr Phelan will next appear before the Special Criminal Court on June 9 2015 at 11am.
At a special sitting of the non-jury court in July 2013, seven men were charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on July 3 2013.
The seven were: Peter Burns (39) of Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, Kevin Braney (39) also of Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, Michael Barr (33) of Carlton Court, Poppintree, Ballymun, Brian Nick McBennett (54) of Ard Collum Avenue, Artane, John Brock (41) of Glenview Park, Tallaght, Declan Phelan (31) of Lanndale Lawns, Tallaght and Desmond Christie (49) of Liam Mellows Road, Finglas were all charged with the same offence on the same date.
The paedophile brother of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will today begin an appeal against his conviction and sentence for raping and sexually abusing his daughter.
Liam Adams, 59, from west Belfast, was found guilty in 2013 of a string of attacks on Aine Dahlstrom when she was aged between four and nine in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He was subsequently handed a 16-year sentence, only half of which he is expected to spend behind bars.
His case is being heard in the Appeal Court in Belfast.
Adams, formerly of Bernagh Drive, was found guilty of 10 offences against Mrs Dahlstrom - three counts of rape, four of indecent assault and three of gross indecency.
The opportunist predator committed the crimes when he was left alone with his daughter, often sneaking into her room while she slept.
The abuse was committed over a five-year period between 1977 and 1981. In later years he went on to work in a number of youth centres in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Mrs Dahlstrom, now in her early 40s, has waived her right to anonymity.
The conviction heaped pressure on Gerry Adams to explain why he did not alert the authorities to the abuse allegations when he initially learned of them.
Gerry Adams (above) has insisted he acted properly and accused political rivals of exploiting a family issue to attack him.
The UVF is set to launch a sectarian hate campaign in support of the Ligoniel Orangemen.
We can reveal the terror group held a meeting in south Belfast on Wednesday evening also attended by representatives from the east and north of the city.
Hosted by south Belfast commander Eddie `Onions’ Rainey it agreed a blueprint for an anti-catholic hate campaign in an attempt to put the pressure on the government to accede to a list of demands including the stalled Orange parade in north Belfast.
As revealed by the Sunday World last week the UVF intend to hijack a call from the Orange Order leadership for a campaign of peaceful protests against the continued refusal to grant permission for the completion of the Ligoniel parade.
The UVF intends to target catholic families in a systematic campaign of intimidation leading up to the marching season. Security chiefs are already concerned at the prospect of a tense summer.
In the firing line will be foreign nationals and there is increased anxiety that students may also be targeted as the Ulster University develops its city centre campus and increased student accommodation is built in south Belfast. Sources within the UVF described the campaign as a `smoking gun’ to the head of the government.
“The meeting was called for Wednesday night,” said our source, “a whole range of issues were discussed but in particular Twadell and the forthcoming (Gary) Haggartt supergrass trial.
“The message was blunt, any catholics living in or close to loytalist areas are to be put out.”
He said social housing schemes and student accommodation in particular are to be targeted.
We understand that plans to build student housing on the site of the former Albion shirt factory off Sandy Row are to be monitored. New houses on Broadway between loyalist Donegall Road and the Falls are due to allocated in the coming weeks and the UVF have said they will not allow homes to be granted to foreign nationals or anyone they perceive to be catholic.
The Whitehall Square apartment block, also on Sandy Row is to be targeted. It’s not the first time the upmarket development have come in for attention from loyalist paramilitaries. In the past the building has been daubed with anti-catholic slogans.
The complex was seen as a sign Belfast was becoming more cosmopolitan, it was a view not shared by local residents who have variously dubbed it `Vatican Square’ and `White Chapel.’
“We want these people to leave,” said a loyalist source.
“We believe a large proportion of people living there are from the catholic persuasion, and it could be that they will be given 24 hours to get out. If they don’t they leave themselves open to further action.”
He said Wednesday’s meeting made it clear their intention is to target caholics.
“It’s all about getting the taigs out and keeping the prods in. It’s a step back in time and is the same tactic they have used time and time again.”
He said there is little support among the organisation’s membership but there are enough `young guns’ keen to make a name for themselves who will be more than willing to do the leadership’s bidding.
He said the attacks would not be limited to loyalist areas but could spread to the periphery of what are conceived as loyalist districts.
This week a social housing development in Carryduff in the Belfast commuter belt was claimed by loyalists. UVF flags and signs were erected and an entire section of railings were daubed in red white and blue paint.
The 40 house development, which is near completion, is not in a loyalist district but is close to Killynure estate which is regarded as mainly unionist. Carryduff is a typical commuter belt town and has always been regarded as a socially and religiously mixed.
“They (UVF) say this campaign is about getting the parade down the road, by hook or by c rook, but they also have an eye on the Haggarty trial,” said our source.
“They think they can put a gun to the government’s head, if they want to go ahead with Haggarty then they will see catholic families being petrol bombed out of their homes.”
He said veteran members have warned the leadership, including Rainey, that such campaigns in the past have yielded little or nothing for loyalists.
“Have they forgotten Drumcree,” said our source, “they firebombed a house and murdered the Quinn children, are they seriously suggesting we go down that road again.”
Three young brothers were murdered in a loyalist arson attack in Ballymoney, at the height of the Drumcree protests in 1998.
The boys - Richard Quinn, 11, Mark Quinn, 9, and Jason Quinn, 7 - were asleep in their beds when a petrol bomb was thrown through a window at the rear of their terraced house in the early hours of the morning on the Twelfth.
The Quinns were Catholics living on the predominantly Protestant Carnany estate, but they were accepted by the community and attended a Protestant school.
“It seems to be ok for drug dealers to move into protestant areas but not catholics. This is going to be a very long summer.”
