The Special Criminal Court has rejected an application by lawyers representing the alleged leader of the "Real IRA", Mr Michael McKevitt, for access to secret unedited M15 documents.
The five documents were flown into Ireland yesterday after Mr McKevitt's lawyers argued that they contained material that was very important to the Defence. The court heard that edited versions of the documents had been disclosed to the Defence but that in some cases, entire pages had been blacked out.
Mr Justice Richard Johnson, presiding, told Mr Philip McGee QC defending, that the court examined five unedited documents in their entirety. In each case, the court found nothing "which is in any way relevant to the issue before the court", he said.
The court also heard that tapes and transcripts of interviews given by Mr David Rupert, the main witness against Mr McKevitt, to US-based journalists, were now available to the Defence. The journalists handed over the interviews, which were in connection with a possible book by Mr Rupert, following an order by a Chicago court.
Mr Rupert will resume his cross-examination tomorrow.
It was the thirteenth day of the trial of Mr Mc Kevitt (53), of Beech Park, Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth who is charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann between August 29th, 1999 and March 28th, 2001. He is also charged directing the activities of the same organisation.