A Lithuanian national has pleaded guilty to engaging in a terrorist plot to attack a mosque in Galway, Ireland, reports Irish media.
Karolis Pečkauskas, 39, entered the guilty plea at the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday. He admitted attempting to engage in terrorist activity, contrary to Ireland's Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005.
The charge relates to an attempt, between November 4 and 5, 2025, to damage the Maryam Mosque in Galway, by fire. The offence was classed as aggravated by hatred.
Two co-defendants, Darren Gorman, 33, and Garrett Pollock, 35, pleaded guilty to the same charge earlier this month. A fourth man, Charles Flynn, 35, still faces the same charge, with his case due back before the court on July 20.
Pečkauskas, Gorman and Pollock are all due to return to court on October 5 for sentencing.
Extremist group link
According to RTÉ, Ireland’s National Broadcaster, when Pečkauskas first appeared before Portlaoise District Court last November, a detective told the court that a video had been found showing men, allegedly including the defendants, declaring themselves part of a far-right group calling itself the Irish Defence Army.
According to the judge who viewed the recording, the video appeared to be a prepared statement intended for release after a successful terrorist attack, in which the group described a philosophy of "an eye for an eye" and stated an intention to target asylum seeker accommodation centres, mosques and hotels housing migrants.
Irish police said the video was found along with a manifesto during a search of a silver BMW Pečkauskas had been driving in Portlaoise, which also allegedly contained threaded pipe end caps, six litres of hydrogen peroxide and plumbers' putty.
A detective told the court at the time that a "terrorist attack was imminent". Pečkauskas' bail application was refused, with the judge citing the video as showing a clear danger to the state, and he was remanded in custody.
Pečkauskas also faces separate charges over weapons allegedly found in the car that day, including two hatchets, a knuckle duster and a hunting knife, as well as a charge of possessing an explosive substance – the pipe end caps and hydrogen peroxide.
He is challenging the explosives charge at the High Court, arguing the relevant legislation places an unfair burden on him to prove he had no unlawful intent. That charge has been paused pending the outcome of his challenge.
According Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, acknowledged the development was troubling. "It's a very unpleasant fact. It's concerning that Lithuanians too are forging these contacts with terrorist organisations," he said, adding that he could not recall a previous case in which a Lithuanian national's name had come up in connection with terrorism.
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