An explosive substance discovered by gardaí in a car in Dundalk is used for activating bombs and of the type used by the "Real IRA", a Garda ballistics expert told the Special Criminal Court yesterday. The court has heard that Special Branch detectives monitoring the activities of dissident republicans found a time and power unit after they rammed a car leaving Dundalk railway station.
Det Sgt Brendan McArdle, of the Garda Technical Bureau, said he examined the contents of a blue Nike sports bag that had been found in a Toyota Yaris car, driven by the accused, Mr Darren O'Donogh.
Mr O'Donogh (23), of Glenmore Park, Muirhevnamore, Dundalk, has pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of an explosive substance - one improvised time and power unit - at McEntee Avenue, in the townland of Desmene, Dundalk, on June 9th, 2001.
The witness said the time and power unit provided both a timing factor of between 60 and 120 minutes and energy for detonating explosives.