[3] One Sunday in 1916 George and his older brother Jimmy were arrested by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) after being seen speaking to two well known Republicans, Seán Hayes and Dan Breen.
[4] In 1923 George Plant and his brother Jimmy left Ireland for Canada and the United States but continued as active IRA members.
[5] In 1932 they were released in a general amnesty after the election victory of the Fianna Fáil party and Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach (Prime Minister and head of government of Ireland).
In 1939, following the outbreak of World War II, (known in Ireland as The Emergency), de Valera was determined to maintain Irish neutrality and would not allow the IRA to jeopardise this policy.
In September 1941 Stephen Hayes was himself taken prisoner and accused of being an informer by a group of Northern IRA members led by Seán McCaughey.
The men were represented by Seán MacBride who argued (unsuccessfully) that it was a fundamental rule of law that a person could not be put in jeopardy twice for the same offence.
[12] The Military Tribunal system was established under the Emergency Powers Act 1939 and has been referred to as: "...draconian legislation re-introducing internment, flogging and the death penalty for subversive activity.
The second trial began at Collins Barracks, Dublin in February 1942 with Seán MacBride, the former IRA Chief of Staff and future government minister again serving as the defendant's barrister.
[14] On 5 March 1942 (just one week after sentence was passed) George Plant was executed in Portlaoise Prison by a six-man firing squad drawn from the Military Police of Irish army.
[16] Much bitterness was caused by the treatment of George Plant's relatives; neither his wife or mother or infant son were allowed to visit him in the week before his execution.