Gerry McGeough

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Gerry McGeough (b. 1962, near Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a prominent Irish Republican and former member (volunteer) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was convicted of gun-running.

McGeough joined the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade in 1979, aged 17. After activity in Northern Ireland and Europe, he was arrested (along with another IRA member, Gerry Hanratty) in August 1988 while crossing the Netherlands-German border with two AK47 rifles in his car. He was charged with attacks on the British Army of the Rhine and held for four years in a specially built German detention centre. His trial in Germany was interrupted by extradition to the United States, where he was charged with attempting to buy surface-to-air-missiles in 1983. He served three years of his sentence in American prisons until his release in 1996 whereupon he was deported from the USA to the Republic of Ireland.^[1]^[2]

He led Sinn Féin's opposition to the referendum on the Nice Treaty in the Republic of Ireland.^[3] He was also a Sinn Fein national executive (ard-comhairle) member for Trinity College Dublin before becoming disgusted with what he perceives as the socially "liberal" views of "nouveau Sinn Féin".^[4]

McGeough is known for his strong Catholic views: "You would never get a leader of Sinn Fein condemning abortion, homosexual "marriage" or anything of that nature. I, as an Irish nationalist and Roman Catholic, never want to see the day when there are abortion clinics in every market town in Ireland. But looking around there is no political grouping willing to take a stance against that."^[5]

In May 2006, McGeough, as editor, and Charles Byrne, a 28-year-old from Drogheda, launched a monthly magazine called The Hibernian, dedicated to “Faith, Family and Country”. McGeough is associated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians.^[6]

McGeough has declared he will be standing for election in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007 against Sinn Fein in the Fermanagh/South Tyrone constituency. He has put himself forward as a protest against Sinn Féin's vote in January 2007 to work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI); a condition demanded by the DUP for re-instating the stalled Northern Irish Assembly.^[7] McGeough has also declared recently that the issue of abortion will be a central part of his campaign.

On 8 March 2007 McGeough was arrested by the PSNI whilst leaving the election count centre in Omagh. The arrest was in connection with the shooting of Sammy Brush who is now a DUP councilor in Ballygawley who was shot several times in the attack and commented: "I’ve thought about it every day since."^[8]^[9] McGeough and Vincent McAnespie have now been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life. Both men have been remanded in custody to appear at Dungannon Magistrates' Court on 4 April 2007^[10]^[11]