Far-right group threatened to attack mosque and asylum centres around Ireland, court hears

A far-right group threatened to attack a mosque and asylum centres around the country, a court has heard.

Two men appeared before Portlaoise District Court yesterday charged with possession of explosives after a joint Garda-PSNI operation.

Gardaí discovered explosives in Co. Laois and the PSNI also discovered explosives in Co. Down, the court heard.

Garrett Pollock, 35, of Kilhorne Greene, Annalong, Co. Down, was arrested in ­Portlaoise on Tuesday evening.

Detective Garda Declan O’Connor told the court that four masked men had appeared in a video threatening to attack specific targets.

In the video, there are four men wearing balaclavas with an Irish tricolour behind them. The video was found on a device in Mr Pollock’s home and had not yet been shared online, the court heard. Gardaí believe the video was recorded in a house in Portlaoise and the group also allegedly wrote a manifesto, which was obtained during a search.

Mr Pollock has been charged with ­possession of explosives at O’Moore Place, Portlaoise, and possession of explosives at Kilhorne Green, Annalong, Co. Down.

Gardaí objected to bail based on the seriousness of the charges and that Mr Pollock, allegedly, could plan terrorist acts. Judge Andrew Cody agreed to refuse bail.

Defence barrister David Nugent said Mr Pollock denied that he was one of the four men in the video.

Rollingnews.ie

Judge Cody viewed the video after the court was emptied of press and members of the public. Afterwards, when everyone was allowed back in the court, he said the men in the video warned that they would attack ‘Ireland’s first mosque’ in Galway as well as IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) centres and hotels that house asylum applicants.

The judge described it as a ‘practice of a statement being released subsequent to a successful terrorist attack’ and that the statement addressed ‘citizens in the North and South of Ireland’.

The men in the video said Irish women, children and the elderly were being ignored and left hungry in favour of migrants ­coming into the country, the judge noted, and that the men viewed migrants as being ‘potentially [a] hostile takeover’.

In the practice video, they ‘accept responsibility for the actions that have resulted in the destruction of the first mosque that was introduced in Ireland in Co. Galway’, the judge said.

Judge Cody said the Garda allegation that the accused was one of the masked men was well founded and he would refuse bail. Mr Pollock was remanded in custody to appear in court on November 13.

The second accused, Karolis Peckauskas, 38, of Newfoundwell Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth, also appeared in court charged with possession of explosives at O’Moore Place, Portlaoise, on November 4.

Detective Garda Joe Fahy told the court that Mr Peckauskas said: ‘I do not understand’ in response to the charges. There was no application for bail. He is also due to appear in Portlaoise court next week.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.