Three members of a “far-right” group calling itself the Irish Defence Army (IDA) were jailed today for a planned attack on the Maryam Mosque in Galway, a plot which the Special Criminal Court described as carefully planned and premeditated.
Garrett Pollock (36), of Annalong, Co Down, was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months, with the last 12 months suspended, leaving 9 years and 6 months to serve. Karolis Peckauskas (39), of Newfoundwell Road, Drogheda, and Darren Gorman (34), of O’Moore Place, Portlaoise, were each sentenced to 8 years, backdated to their arrest on 4 November 2025, with the last 12 months suspended. Each will serve 7 years.
All three had pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in terrorist activity by damaging the mosque by fire, an offence aggravated by hatred. Pollock also pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive substance.
The court heard that the plot was rumbled when Gardaí became suspicious during a routine stop by the Portlaise Drugs Unit.
A video recorded before the planned attack was to be sent to RTÉ, TG4 and local newspapers. In it, the men said the IDA wished to take responsibility for “the destruction of the first mosque to have been introduced into our country” in Galway. The group’s threats went beyond Muslims and extended to anyone who helped to erect IPAS accommodation or mosques, including estate agents and landlords housing migrants “instead of our own”.
Chat messages showed the men discussing how to build improvised explosive devices. The court viewed footage of a device being tested, which Ms Justice Caroline Biggs, leading the panel of three judges, said appeared to work. One message sent by Pollock suggested a pipe bomb would “do more damage” and “make more of a statement” than using petrol bombs.
Pollock was described as the person with the greatest culpability, with Justice Biggs saying that much of the evidence came from his phone, including an IED instruction manual. He accepted that a rank had been conferred on him within the group.
The court noted that he had escaped the disappointments of his life by existing “as a new man” as the group’s leader, gaining a sense of community and status.
She noted that he did not do well at school and has two children, of whom he has had full-time custody since 2018, and shares custody of a seven-year-old son. The court heard he spent hours online at night and was drawn into increasingly radical content.
In a letter to the court, he wrote that his children were the intended targets of the attack and his own children “are now the victims of my stupidity and ignorance”.
Peckauskas, a Lithuanian national, first came to Ireland in 2006 with his father but did not remain. He founded his own company in Lithuania, has two children there and a fiancée, and pays €800 a month in child support.
Justice Biggs said that Gorman is an electrician who can hold down a job when sober, but began taking drugs at an early age. A psychologist’s report in respect of him described a “total lack of assertiveness” and “extreme submissiveness”.
He said he was radicalised online and “roped in” to the offending during which he left as though he had “lost control”
The court noted the maximum penalties: life imprisonment for the terrorist offence, considered by reference to the corresponding offence of arson, which also carries life; 14 years for explosive substances; and 7 years for the weapons offences.
Justice Biggs said the court has a “positive duty” to treat hatred as an aggravating factor, since hatred against a person on account of characteristics including religion makes the offender’s culpability greater in accordance with the Criminal Justice Hate Offences Act 2024.
She noted that the mosque is open to members 24/7 and that it is situated close to a new apartment block with several hundred residents. The attack could have caused “huge and irrevocable damage” to “a place of prayer and peace”, and the fear and terror among the Muslim community had caused “profound emotional distress”, she added.
The court said that the group had established “a hierarchy of migrants”, in which “some are welcome, and some aren’t”. It said there was “no reason whatsoever” to target the community, which had “done them no wrong”.
The group was described as one “with no respect for the rule of law”, whose members sought “a sense of community and an ego boost to offset a sense of failure in their own lives”, through “hooliganism and thuggery to seek out status”.
In reference to the accused’s pleas that they became radicalised online through TikTok and Instagram, Justice Biggs said that “every secondary school child is aware of algorithms” and should be careful of them.
“Modern Ireland is a multicultural and diverse country, and the actions of these men have brought shame and embarrassment on all of us.”
Evidence from sentence hearings earlier this month
The court heard that the group, known as the Irish Defence Army (IDA), also planned to carry out further attacks and vowed that “estate agents” and those who were involved in setting up IPAS centres to house migrants “ahead of Ireland’s native people” would become targets.
In addition to the terrorism charges, Garrett Pollock (36), from Kilhorne Greene, Annalong, Co. Down, was charged with the possession of two hatchets, a knuckle duster and a hunting knife in a silver BMW at O’Moore Place on 4 November 2025 contrary to Section 9 (5) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.
He was charged with possession of an explosive substance – four threaded pipe end caps and six litres of hydrogen peroxide – under such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable suspicion that he did not have it in his possession for a lawful object at O’Moore Place on 4 November 2025.
He was further charged with possessing an explosive substance under such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable suspicion that he didn’t have it in his possession for a lawful object at An Tobar, Newfoundwell Road, Drogheda, Co Louth on the same date.
Lithuanian Karolis Peckauskas (39) of Newfoundwell Road, Drogheda, Co Louth pleaded guilty to intending to damage or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged between November 4th and 5th, 2025 in respect of the mosque.
Darren O’Gorman of O’Moore Place, Portloaise, Co Laoise also pleaded guilty to intending to damage or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged between November 4th and 5th, 2025 also in respect of the mosque.
The court heard that the accused men were involved in what the State described as “a right-wing violent extremist group” calling itself the Irish Defence Army (IDA). IDA was a splinter from the Irish Citizens Army (ICA) and an earlier grouping called Shadows of Éire.
Members communicated through a Signal group, which Pollock administered. He also designed the crest, and with Peckauskas’ help, shaped the group’s terminology. He composed an oath, a manifesto and a public statement.
A booklet containing the oath and manifesto was recovered during Garda searches.
Pollock, known as “Slua”, admitted to holding a rank; Gorman was known as “Dagger”, and Peckauskas went by “Q”.
The panel of three judges, led by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs, heard that on the 4th of November 2025, Gardaí from the Laois drugs unit stopped a silver BMW in Portlaoise in which they found Garrett Pollock and Peckauskas, who was driving.
A search of the vehicle turned up tactical vests, bright green cable ties, a can of sealing putty, an Irish flag, hatchets, knives, a knuckle duster, and several litres of hydrogen peroxide. Pollock was in the front passenger seat with two knives on his person.
The court heard that Pollock had driven from the Newry area to Drogheda, Co Louth, where he left a Citroën van which contained four improvised incendiary devices (IEDs) concealed in a specially designed hidden compartment parked near the home of Peckauskas.
A search of the van found a hidden drawer under the floor holding four jars containing incendiary devices. Pollock then drove the BMW to Portlaoise, where all three men gathered at Gorman’s home.
The court heard that an IPAS centre in Portlaoise had been an original target for a planned attack but had been replaced by the mosque.
The panel of judges heard that reconnaissance of the mosque and its surroundings had been carried out. The prepared public statement was written in the past tense, claiming responsibility for the destruction of “the first mosque” in Galway, and promising further attacks. It threatened estate agents and landlords housing foreigners, as well as anyone who facilitated IPAS (asylum accommodation) centres, and called on others north and south of the border to join.
Recorded messages showed the group discussing using a pipe bomb instead of petrol, because it would cause more damage and attract more media attention. Pollock said he would show the others “how to do it from start to finish”. They discussed using sledgehammers to break through gates, then burning out the getaway car with the hammers left inside.
An IPAS centre in Portlaoise was also identified as a target.
Pollock admitted making and testing the device and was the most forthcoming of the three. He has 19 previous convictions, all road traffic offences plus resisting and obstructing police, all in Northern Ireland. He is further charged with possession of two hatchets, a knuckle duster and a hunting knife, and with possessing explosive substances (four threaded pipe end caps and six litres of hydrogen peroxide) in suspicious circumstances in Portlaoise and in Drogheda.
The court heard that Peckauskas indicated his willingness to learn about the construction of devices. He told gardaí his knives were for fishing, and he has no previous convictions in any jurisdiction.
Gorman, who was remanded on bail, provided the premises where the video was recorded and sourced the hydrogen peroxide, contributed to the common fund, bought clothing for the operation (combat trousers from Penneys) and did surveillance on the IPAS centre. He has six previous convictions, all for road traffic offences.
The group’s video claiming responsibility for the planned attack contained a warning to “any estate agents or landlords housing foreigners ahead of Ireland’s native people”, saying they “will become legitimate targets”
The group first planned to use petrol bombs to attack the mosque but switched to pipe bombs once it was decided that these would do more damage and gain more media attention, the court heard.
In voice messages played to the court, Pollock said, “I prefer to go with the pipe bombs myself cause obviously it’s going to be more of a statement and cause more damage.”
He advised that the attack be carried out “almost like a drive-by kinda job” and needed to show that it was“not just an angry person.”
“I’ll show everyone how to do it from start to finish,” said, expressing hopes that the first attack would pass off “safely”.
He also sent messages into the group saying, “The big black bastards are the ones who would fight back and mouth back more.”
He also described such individuals as “just fucking inbred” and “uneducated fucking halfwits.”
Statement claiming responsibility for the planned attack
A video statement played to the panel of judges, which was filmed with an Irish flag as a backdrop with the accused men wearing dark clothing and balaclavas, said the group “would like to take responsibility” for the attack “that has resulted in the destruction of the first mosque in Galway.”
It said that the group would not tolerate those who follow “fake prophets” who “condone murder and paedophilia” and, although the group understood that the attack would cause “distress” to “legal migrants”, “We simply do not care.”
“We are neither racist nor sectarian,” but “simply parents” who want the best for their children.
It said that “A very dangerous beast has been poked for the last time,” saying that the “generosity” of the Irish people had been viewed by some “as a weakness”.
The statement also pointed to “the Irish who are responsible for it happening,” and said, “An eye for an eye will be our approach going forward.”
“Targets do not include women or children unless the woman is a threat to our loved ones,” it said, adding that “anyone who helped to facilitate IPAS centres” or “estate agents who house these thugs ahead of our own,” would become targets.
“This is to be taken as a stern warning,” it said, adding, “This will not be the last attack to be carried out.”
“This is on us, the IDA, and not the ICA,” it said.
It said the group was dedicated to protecting the people of Ireland and to “rid them of the countless dangerous immigrations who have flooded this country.”
It encouraged “brothers and sisters north and south” to “step up and join us in this fight” against “foreign invaders”.
“Be on the right side of history,” it said.