![\"Garda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/dublin-museum-employee-charged-with-possessing-explosives-in-irish-border-case.jpg\")
Simon O\u2019Donovan appeared before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court in Dublin (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\nAn employee at a Dublin museum has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with possession of explosives that were intercepted in a car near the Irish border.<\/p>\n
Simon O\u2019Donovan, 44, with an address at Sperrin Road in Drimnagh, appeared before the Special Criminal Court at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donovan also represented himself in a bail hearing before the High Court, where his application for bail was refused after garda\u00ed raised objections.<\/p>\n
The court was told during this hearing that he was employed at the Collins Barracks National Museum.<\/p>\n
Simon O\u2019Donovan appeared before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court in Dublin (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n
Detective Sergeant Shane Noone told the court that he arrested O\u2019Donovan at 5.07pm on Saturday and informed him he would be charged with possession of explosives at St Laurence\u2019s Road in Chapelizod on Wednesday, July 22nd.<\/p>\n
After cautioning, Noone said O\u2019Donovan replied \u201cI don\u2019t understand\u201d and was informed of the caution again.<\/p>\n
Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law said he had not taken instruction from O\u2019Donovan due to a solicitors\u2019 strike over changes to criminal legal aid fees and was only appearing in court out of courtesy.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donovan told Judge Patrick McGrath that he had \u201cno representation at all\u201d, and had asked for \u201cthe services of this gentleman beside me\u201d, referring to Mackin.<\/p>\n
The court rose briefly so that O\u2019Donovan could confer with Mackin on an application for bail.<\/p>\n
When it returned, O\u2019Donovan said he was looking to represent himself in a bail hearing before the High Court as he did not have the means to contest it privately.<\/p>\n
He said the situation was \u201cgrossly unfair\u201d, and that he would be \u201cwilling to try\u201d a bail hearing and that his family and friends were present in court.<\/p>\n
State solicitor Liam Mulholland said it was \u201cvery unusual\u201d to apply for bail late in the day in \u201ca matter such as this\u201d, but added that if a person wants to apply for bail then the court has to hear the application.<\/p>\n
The three-judge Special Criminal Court remanded him in custody until Monday and rose.<\/p>\n
Judge McGrath then returned a few minutes later for a sitting of the High Court to hear O\u2019Donovan\u2019s bail application, which was refused after objections were raised by garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n
During the bail application, O\u2019Donovan told the court: \u201cJust to state on the record that it seems to be quite unfair and there doesn\u2019t seem to be continuity about how bail is granted, some people who can afford can, and some people who can\u2019t are left without it.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donovan is due to appear in person before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday.<\/p>\n
He blew kisses to his supporters in court before being remanded in custody.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, a vehicle travelling on the N2 near Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan was stopped and searched by garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n
Law student Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, of Abbeylands Park in Clane, Co Kildare, appeared before a district court on Friday, charged with possession of explosives in relation to the case.<\/p>\n
Her solicitor Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law said she had been asked to take a bag to the north and had not been aware what was in it.<\/p>\n
Perrie Sullivan was granted bail but remains in custody ahead of a further bail hearing on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An employee at a Dublin museum has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with possession…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-568699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}