The former trade union leader and head of the Government's decentralisation body, Phil Flynn, yesterday had the Probation Act applied to him at Dublin District Court in relation to charges of possession of a pen gun and two tear gas cartridges. Martin Wall reports.
Judge Ann Ryan said she would impose the Probation Act on condition that Mr Flynn (65) paid €5,000 to charity.
The money is to go to Jesuit priest Fr Peter McVerry, who works with homeless boys in Dublin, within 72 hours.
Judge Ryan said the only options open to the court were to impose a fine of €253.90 or a 12- month jail sentence.
She said she did not believe a custodial sentence would be appropriate.
She also maintained that a fine would interfere with Mr Flynn's livelihood.
Counsel for Mr Flynn had earlier told the court that his client travelled widely, including to the US, and that he was conscious of what a firearms conviction could mean.
Garda Sgt James Costello said the pen gun and two cartridges of CN gas had been found in a box in a drawer in Mr Flynn's office in Harcourt Street in Dublin during a search of the premises by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Garda Fraud Squad on February 17th last.
Sgt Costello said the pen gun was "a particularly dangerous weapon within the meaning of an order introduced by the Minister for Justice in 1972, a single shot pistol". He said the weapon could fire a .38 pellet-type round. He also said it was designed for concealment.
The retired head of the Garda Ballistics Unit, William Brennan, told the court it was impossible to say where the pen gun had been made.
He estimated it could be up to 70 years old and that the ammunition could be the same age.
He said the pen gun was designed to fire canisters containing tear gas or CN gas. He said that it was designed for close-quarters, less than three metres. Mr Brennan said the gun barrel narrowed from .38 to .31 of an inch.
He said if a bullet was fired from the gun it would not exit through the mouth of the barrel but that the barrel would shatter in an explosive fashion, almost certainly injuring the person using it.
He said the gas cartridges would, on discharge, have a stinging effect on the skin and could incapacitate a person.
Before 1972, a person could apply for a licence to possess such a pen gun.
Patrick Gageby SC, for Mr Flynn, said the former trade union leader had performed "a large and fruitful period of public service". He had been president of the Impact union, a rights commissioner, a director of the VHI and had worked on the social partnership programme.
"He has a long history of service to the State and the trade union movement," he said.
Mr Gageby said the pen gun had been "an article of curiosity".
He said the weapon had been kept for the better part of 30 years.
Mr Flynn appreciated that possession of the weapon was unlawful but it had escaped his mind that it was unlawful, he added. "There were no circumstances of suspicion. It was not being carried around and it was not being concealed," he said.
Judge Ryan reminded Mr Flynn she had applied section 11 of the Probation Act and if he came before another court, this could be brought to its attention.