Michael McKevitt

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Michael McKevitt (b. 1951) was convicted of directing terrorism as the leader of the Irish republican paramilitary organisation, the Real IRA, which is regarded as responsible for, and itself admits 'minimal involvement' in [1], the Omagh bombing in August 1998, which killed 29 people.

McKevitt was a longtime senior member of the Provisional IRA and served as the organisation's Quartermaster General, a role which gave him unique personal knowledge of the whereabouts of, and access to Provisional IRA arms dumps. He quit the organisation in protest at the movement's ceasefires and its participation through Sinn Féin in the Irish peace process which led to the Belfast Agreement. McKevitt launched his own IRA, called the Real IRA, using guns and weaponry he as the Quartermaster General of the Provisional IRA had known the whereabouts of and had seized. McKevitt was never the Chief of Staff of the RIRA despite media reports saying that he was. According to information revealed in his trial, among his plans was to attempt the assassination of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

McKevitt was convicted by the Republic of Ireland's non-jury Special Criminal Court on 6 August 2003 of two terrorist offences: "membership of an illegal organisation" (the Real IRA) and "directing terrorism" between August 29, 1999 and October 23, 2000. He was the first person to be convicted of the latter offence, introduced in the aftermath of the Omagh Bombing. The prosecution case was based on the testimony of an American FBI informant, David Rupert.

Mr. Justice Richard Johnson said of McKevitt, "The accused played a leading role in the organisation which he directed and induced others to join." On 7 August 2003 he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Given all possible reductions and remission, it means that the earliest he can be released is 2018.

McKevitt appealed his convictions to the Court of Criminal Appeal, arguing that Rupert's testimony was unreliable since he had been paid large sums of money for his role as an informant ($1.4 million from the FBI, and £400,000 from MI5), and because of Rupert's long criminal record. In December 2005, the court rejected these arguments and said that Rupert was a credible witness. Both of McKevitt's convictions were upheld. McKevitt has since left the RIRA after a disagreement between a group of RIRA prisoners in Portlaoise Prison and the outside leadership. The prisoners issued a statement urging the leadership to stand down claiming a criminal element had taken over. McKevitt and his supporters went on to form a group called New Republican Forum

McKevitt is married to Bernadette Sands McKevitt, the sister of 1981 Provisional IRA hunger striker and MP, Bobby Sands, who died during his hunger strike. Bernadette Sands McKevitt was a leading member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and had been described in media reports as the third highest ranking Real IRA officer. However she left the 32csm after the split in Portlaoise Prison.

Previous to his arrest and jailing, McKevitt resided at Beech Park, Blackrock, County Louth. A website launched to highlight McKevitts case was launched in June 2006 http://michaelmckevitt.com/

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