Bomb plot GAA man jailed for CIRA explosives haul is 100k Smokey Bandit
Armagh volunteer who served nine years over explosives haul pleads guilty to role in cigarette smuggling op
The court was told Daire McKenna had taken a second job as a truck driver
An Armagh GAA TV volunteer who was previously jailed over a Continuity IRA explosives haul is due be sentenced after being caught with 100,000 smuggled cigarettes.
Daire McKenna, who once served nine years for explosives offences, appeared before Dundalk Circuit Court last week in relation to the illegal cigarette haul.
The court heard McKenna (41), from Pier Rampart, Derryadd, Craigavon, Co. Armagh, was arrested in the car park of the Rosewood Country Club, Ravensdale, Dundalk, with 100,000 cigarettes on October 29, 2020.
The court heard the estimated loss to the State from the smuggled cigarettes was €56,000, including excise and VAT, and the offences were contrary to Section 78(3) of the Finance Act 2005, as amended by Section 56 of the Finance Act 2013.
Gardaí said they stopped McKenna at around 5pm that day and searched his car, where they found 5,000 packets of Excellence branded cigarettes.
The court was told Daire McKenna had taken a second job as a truck driver
The court heard the maximum sentence for the offence was five years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding €12,695.
Details of McKenna's previous convictions were read out to the court, including a nine-year sentence in relation to a CIRA explosives haul in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, in April 2006.
Police linked McKenna and two other republicans to the explosives, an ammonium nitrate-based fertiliser and sugar mix, which would have been sufficient to make a 250lb car bomb.
The find was made at a breaker's yard on the Antrim Road in Lurgan and McKenna was charged with possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.
He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of possessing explosives with intent to enable others to cause serious damage to property.
Daire McKenna
At his sentence hearing, a judge said the operation was clearly on a 'considerable scale'.
When he appeared in court last week his defence counsel said he was a family man with two young children.
The court heard he works as an account manager for Staffline Ireland and was a 'dedicated volunteer' and 'excellent videographer' for Armagh GAA TV.
'He videos and livestreams all of the matches for people who can't attend the matches.'
References were handed into court, including from a man who said McKenna was a 'valuable mentor' who had given him great guidance.
His barrister said McKenna accepts his role in the smuggling operation, which was to transport the cigarettes.
He said he was a 'different man today' than the person caught with the cigarettes.
He added that now has as second job as a HGV driver to 'supplement his income'.
Daire McKenna
Judge Dara Hayes adjourned the case to April 28 for sentencing.
Sources in Armagh said while McKenna was wild in his younger days, he had calmed down significantly since his release from prison and they were surprised to see him caught up in cigarette smuggling.
McKenna was not the only member of his family arrested in relation to explosives.
His brother, Damien McKenna, was jailed for 15 years in 2009 after he and two others admitted having an armour-piercing mortar bomb, support frame and propulsion unit found in a field near Lurgan on April 5, 2007.
As they were jailed at Belfast Crown Court in 2009 the court erupted into cheers and applause, with a Tricolour being held aloft as men and women shouted 'up the 'Ra'.
It is believed the group had planned to carry out a mortar bomb attack on PSNI officers but were foiled following a surveillance operation.
Another brother, Ryan McKenna, was arrested with the other three men.
He denied involvement and told police he was on his way to his sister's home when he bumped into his brother and his associates.
He subsequently moved to Mayo and was later extradited back to the North to face trial in 2014 on explosives and conspiracy charges.
However, he was acquitted of all charges after the prosecution offered no further evidence and invited the judge to find him not guilty.
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