Trainee barrister charged with possession of explosives remanded in custody

Isobella Perrie Sullivan was charged on Saturday.

Isobella Perrie Sullivan, of Abbeylands Park, Clane in Co Kildare was intercepted in a car near the Border with the North.

It's understood Sullivan maintains she had been asked to take a bag to the north, and had not been aware what was in it.

She appeared before Monaghan District Court via videolink from the Dóchas Centre on Monday.

She has been charged with the possession of explosives.

It was reported incorrectly in a televised broadcast over the weekend that Sullivan had spent time in Syria, however this is not the case. A reporter misheard the word "Saoradh" the dissident republican group, Sullivan had been involved with.

Ms Perrie Sullivan's solicitor was not in court today amid an ongoing row about legal aid fees.

Judge Raymond Finnegan remanded her in custody, with consent to bail, to appear again before Monaghan District Court on 7 August.

Sullivan told the court she thought she would be released on bail however, it was explained no application was given to the judge to approve.

JOE understands that Ms Sullivan grew up in Donegal where her grandfather resides.

She joined dissident republican group Saoradh in Derry then moved to Dublin and lived with her boyfriend for a period of time. She had just finished law degree and was due to sit entrance exams in Kings Inn.

Earlier Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described the interception of Ms Sullivan as “an extremely significant seizure”.

At court a Garda officer outlined how Ms Perrie Sullivan had been stopped by gardaí on the N2 at Aclint, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, suspected to be involved “in IRA operational activity”.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said Ireland’s justice system has “serious questions to answer” over Sullivan being released on bail over the weekend.

In a statement on Saturday, Gavin Robinson said: “The discovery of a viable Semtex bomb should have reminded everyone that dissident republican terrorism remains a lethal threat.

“The decision to grant bail will leave many people asking whether the justice system appreciates the gravity of that reality.

“If involvement in the transport of a viable Semtex bomb is not enough to keep an accused person in custody, the Republic’s justice system has some serious questions to answer."

Ms Sullivan has been pictured a multiple republican parades with members of Saoradh.

Police have identified Saoradh as the political wing of the New IRA, who have been blamed for shooting journalist Lyra McKee in Derry on 18 April, 2019.

A statement released by the group apologised to the family of Ms McKee.

Meanwhile, another man, Simon O'Donovan, 44, was remanded in custody after appearing in court also charged with possession of explosives.

An employee of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, he was been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with possession of explosives.

He appeared before the Special Criminal Court at the Criminal Courts of Justice Dublin on Saturday evening (July 25).