Three Dublin men were jailed for 20 years each and a fourth for 12 years by the Special Criminal Court yesterday, for having a huge IRA bomb factory in Co Laois.
Mr Justice Barr said the court was satisfied that Gabriel Cleary, Bryan McNally and John Conaty were "dedicated terrorist bombmakers" who must have known the horror of what they were doing and the misery and destruction they could cause.
He said there was "coercive evidence" that a bomb-making factory and store in an underground bunker had been set up at the farm where they were arrested.
He said this had the "the terrifying capacity for bringing death and disablement to many hundreds if not thousands of people and of causing destruction to property". The judge said the bunker was used regularly by IRA members to store, remove and replace explosives for years.
The court heard that Cleary had served a five-year sentence in France after he was arrested on the IRA gun-running ship Eksund in 1987.
Cully was jailed for 12 years for having explosive substances in a shed and a bunker on his uncle's farm. Mr Justice Barr said the court was satisfied that Cully was not a terrorist but "an active collaborator".
The farm owner, Thomas Conroy, who is 76 and suffering from cancer, was given a five-year suspended sentence for having explosives.
Mr Justice Barr said Conroy was "cynically and cruelly pressurised" into providing what the IRA would see as an ideal venue for bomb-making and storage. The IRA ceasefire, from August 1994 to February 1996, had been taken into account by the court previously.
"Subsequent events indicate that deterring others remains a relevant factor in sentencing," he added.
After sentencing, Conaty gave a clenched-fist salute and shouted:"Oglaigh na hEireann abu, Beir Bua and Up the IRA". He was applauded by supporters.
Those jailed are Bryan McNally (56), of Knocksinna Park, Foxrock, Co Dublin; John Conaty (37), of Balbutcher Park, Ballymun, Dublin; Gabriel Cleary (54), of Friarstown, Tallaght, Co Dublin; and Michael Cully (48), of Ballyfarrell, Clonaslee, Co Laois.
They were found guilty of possessing explosive substances including timers, mortar components, Semtex and other bomb-making equipment with intent to endanger life at Ballyfarrell, Clonaslee, Co Laois, on June 20th, 1996.
Cully was also convicted of possessing explosive substances, a Bren machinegun and Luger pistol.
Conaty was found guilty of having a semi-automatic pistol and seven rounds of ammunition, for which he was given a concurrent nine-year sentence.
Thomas Conroy pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial last week to having explosive substances, including mortar components, mortars containing Semtex, improvised grenades, timing switches and other material with intent to endanger life at his farm.
Det Supt Basil Walsh told the court that Conroy had made a number of statements to gardai after his arrest, in which he said the bunker had been built by his nephew Michael Cully and Christopher Harford.
Supt Walsh said Harford was a known Provisional IRA member who has since died. Conroy told gardai that IRA men had arrived regularly at the farm to store and take items from the bunker and to make bombs in the shed.
He said Conroy was single and lived with his two elderly sisters. He was now undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He said he did not believe Conroy was a member of the IRA.
The court was told during the seven-day trial that 17 Emergency Response Unit detectives led by Det Supt Walsh raided the farm at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains near Clonaslee on June 20th, 1996.
They broke down the door of a locked shed and arrested Cleary, Conaty and McNally after a violent struggle, and two other men, the farm's owner, Thomas Conroy, and his nephew, Michael Cully, were arrested at the farmhouse.
Conaty was found to have a loaded pistol in the waistband of his trousers. In the shed gardai found a large quantity of bombmaking equipment and material.
The next day gardai discovered "an extremely well-concealed and sophisticated underground bunker" containing "a significant arsenal of weaponry", Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, said.
The haul included different types of mortars, mortar components. timing devices, home-made armour-piercing grenades, and mercury tilt switches used in booby-trap car bombs.
One complete time and power unit suitable for use with a 2 kg Semtex bomb was found, and there was material for the construction of 36 similar units.