County Down man among those guilty of planning mosque attack

A County Down man is among three men who have pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in a terrorist activity, specifically damaging a mosque in Galway.

They are Garrett Pollock (36) of Kilhorne Greene in Annalong, Darren Gorman (34) of O'Moore Place in Portlaoise and Karolis Peckauskas (39) of Newfoundwell Road in Drogheda.

They had made advanced plans to blow up the Maryam Mosque on the Monivea Road between 4 and 5 November 2025 when they were arrested, the Special Criminal Court in Dublin has heard.

Pollock also pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive substance which was found in four glass jars hidden in a drawer in his van on 4 November.

The men were part of the self-styled Irish Defence Army which Det Insp Alan McDevitt described as a violent right-wing extremist group.

He told the court the group was a splinter of the online Irish Citizens Army which communicated on the messaging app Signal, RTÉ has reported.

McDevitt said gardaí (Irish police) didn't know when the attack was due to take place but the men had plans to use improvised incendiary devices such as pipe bombs and "Molotov cocktails".

The men had filmed a video on Pollock's phone in Gorman's kitchen in Portlaoise claiming responsibility for the attack.

The footage showed four masked men in tactical gear standing in front of the Irish flag.

In the video they said they would like "to take responsibility for destruction of first mosque introduced into our great country in Galway".

The court has also received a written letter from Pollock expressing his remorse and shame for his actions.

It heard on Friday that Pollock was "radicalised" online after he started misusing alcohol and cocaine.

Pollock, a gym instructor, consumed radicalised content about purported threats that immigrants posed to the community which was described as "emotive, ill-informed and AI-generated".

The court heard that after making contact with a group and being invited into smaller groups, he found a sense of belonging and became radicalised very quickly and wanted to show them he was committed.

A doctor who assessed Pollock said his actions were taken in the context of emotional dysfunction, low self-esteem and isolation.

Meanwhile, Gorman's defence counsel told the court that his psychological report highlights extremes of submissiveness and vulnerability, that he was a drug user and addict and also had certain mental health issues.

They added that he had no history of violence, hatred or terrorism.

The men will be sentenced on 30 October 2026.