A Co Longford mass card salesman has been jailed for 18 months for possession of child pornography.
Thomas McNally of Foynes Court, Longford was convicted of two charges of possessing the images at a trial earlier this year.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on each charge, at Sligo Circuit Court this afternoon, the sentences to run concurrently.
Around 350 images were found in a field on the outskirts of Longford town following the theft of a safe from Mr McNally's house in 2006.
Another 326 images were found in a bag in the boot of a car in the driveway of Mr McNally's car when it was searched by gardaí.
Mr McNally's barrister said in court today that his client had suffered greatly within his local community since the case had appeared in the media.
He also told Judge Michael White that Mr McNally was suffering from cancer.
Sentencing him, Judge White said: "This is a serious offence.
"The use of children for sexual gratification on a computer or it if has been downloaded is wrong, as the child has been degraded and childhood innocence has been destroyed."
If Mr McNally was not suffering from serious cancer, he said he would be sentencing him to three years in prison.
