A Dublin man was jailed for seven years by the Special Criminal Court today for having a pipe bomb in Ringsend last year.
Noel Mooney (29),a father of two of Leo Fitzgerald House, Dublin 2 pleaded guilty in July to the unlawful possession of an improvised explosive device – a pipe bomb - at Sean Moore Park, Ringsend on May 8th last year.
He also pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of two shotgun cartridges at waste ground at Sean Moore Park on the same date.
Detective Superintendent Diarmuid O’ Sullivan, Special Detective Unit, told the court that gardaí monitoring the activities of the Real IRA had kept Mooney under observation.
When they approached him at Sean Moore Park he resisted arrest and a taser gun was used before he was arrested.
When gardaí searched an area of scrubland where Mooney had been they found a viable pipe bomb and components for making pipe bombs.
The Detective Superintendent said that DNA found on the pipe bomb matched Mooney’s DNA. He said that the pipe bomb would be used in cars and would be activated when somebody opened the car door which would detonate the device.
Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, said that the possession of pipe bombs was an offence that was becoming “very common’’ before the court.
The court sentenced Mooney to seven years for possession of the pipe bomb and seven years for the possession of the shotgun cartridges and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.