Three men have been jailed after pleading guilty to possession of explosives and ammunition in Co Meath.
The men were arrested during a Garda Special Branch investigation into the activities of dissident republicans.
Francis McGeown (64), with an address in Cedarwood Park, Cox's Demesne, Dundalk; Pascal Burke (42), of Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8; and Ciaran Dunne (23), of Elmbrook Avenue, Lucan, Co Dublin, admitted the unlawful possession of an explosive substance - 0.776 kilogrammes of black powder consisting of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur - at Smithstown, Julianstown, Co Meath, on January 21st, 2005.
They also both pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin to the unlawful possession of 100 rounds of ammunition on the same date.
The court jailed Burke for seven years to date from May 1st, 2005, to take into account time already spent in custody; Dunne to five years to date from July 1st, 2005, and McGeown to four years to date from May 1st, 2005.
The court heard Burke was jailed in December 1998 for eight years for firearms and robbery and was released from prison in 2004. Dunne and McGeown have no previous convictions.