PROMINENT eirigi member Ursula Shannon has been convicted of weapons offences just over a year after her arrest following a botched raid on a Co Offaly sporting firearms shop.
Ursula Shannon (30), a fluent Irish speaker and graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, will be sentenced next Tuesday by the republic's Special Criminal Court for possessing two handguns and ammunition on November 27 2012.
Shannon, who frequently addressed eirigi events across the re-public before her arrest, was found guilty by the non-jury court alongside John McGreal (37) and 24-year-old Colin Brady. All three had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. A fourth man, John Troy (33), who had earlier pleaded guilty to firearms and ammunition charges, is also set to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Shannon and her accomplices were arrested by members of the Special detective Unit, supported by other Garda units, outside the Tackle Shop in rahan, close to Tullamore. Acting on intelligence, armed detectives had been lying in wait for the gang, who had attempted to disguise themselves with wigs and had travelled by van from Dublin. After the arrests, gardai recovered a 9mm parabellum calibre Taurus PT92 semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm parabellum calibre Walther P5 semi-automatic pistol and a ZGJy branded combined stun gun and flashlight along with ammunition.
Their trial heard that Shannon, McGreal and Brady had all refused to cooperate with the gardai during questioning.
Shannon and McGreal were granted continuing bail yesterday until Tuesday's sentencing while Brady, who had not availed of bail, was remanded in custody.
Shannon, also known as Ursula Ni Shionnain, was among several eirigi activists arrested after a 2010 anti-NaMa rooftop protest at the dublin headquarters of the former anglo irish Bank on St Stephen's Green.
They had chained themselves together on top of the building in protest at the irish government's bank bailout.
However, Shannon and the others were later cleared of trespass charges by a Dublin court after a judge found that prosecutors had failed to provide a key witness that the protesters were on the building without permission.
The Trinity graduate also played a prominent role in eirigi protests against the 2011 visit to the republic by Queen Elizabeth II. At one point, she took part in an event in front of the GPO on Dublin's o'Connell Street that included an item of street theatre that saw a character dubbed 'Elizabeth Windsor' being guillotined after a fake trial.