Four years for man convicted of IRA membership
A Dublin man who has been in the Real IRA since 2002 was jailed for four years by the Special Criminal Court today for membership of an illegal organisation.
Joseph Clarke (aged 37), an unemployed father of four, of Forestwood Close, Santry Avenue, Dublin, had denied membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on January 9 this year.
The court convicted Clarke of membership yesterday, and today sentenced him to four years imprisonment, backdated to March this year, when he was taken into custody.
Mr Justice John Mc Menamin, presiding at the three-judge court, said that the court was satisfied that the opinion evidence of Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Kelly had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt and corroborated by Clarke’s failure to answer material questions when interviewed by gardaí.
Sentencing Clarke, Mr Justice Mc Menamin said that the court had taken into account the nature of the evidence regarding his level of activity and continuity within the Real IRA.
The judge said that Detective Chief Superintendent Kelly had given evidence that Clarke had been a member since 2002.
The judge added that the court must balance this with the fact that Clarke has no previous convictions and with the doctrine of proportionality and said that it was necessary to balance punishment with rehabilitation.
