Former Maynooth University employee accused of planning to bomb Prince Charles on visit to Ireland

A man who was found to have bomb-making ingredients in his locker at Maynooth University has pleaded guilty to IRA membership during a sitting of the Special Criminal Court.

24-year-old Dónal Ó'Coisdealbha was arrested in May 2015 after it was alleged that he was discussing plans to detonate a bomb in Sligo during the visit of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. The conversation was recorded by an undercover team of Gardaí at the time, and police believe that the bomb may have been delivered to Limerick where it would have went off at the same time as the prince's visit to the city.

The court was told that bomb-making components were discovered in the man's locker at the Profector Life Sciences Institute at Maynooth University where he worked.

Independent TDs Maureen O'Sullivan, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly offered to stand his €5,000 bail bond after he was charged with terrorist offences, with Deputy O'Sullivan stating that she felt the bail hearings were not run correctly, according to the Sunday Times.

Ó'Coisdealbha will be sentenced on Monday November 28.