John Gilligan today begins his appeal against the 28-year sentence for importing cannabis into the state.
Gilligan lost an earlier appeal this year against conviction by the three-judge Special Criminal Court of having possessed drugs for supply to a drugs gang.
He was convicted of 11 drug-related offences involving the importation and possession for the purpose of sale and supply of a vast quantity of cannabis resin between July 1994 and October 1996.
At the same trial he was acquitted of a charge of murdering journalist Veronica Guerin and of three charges relating to importation of firearms.
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