REAL IRA SPLIT OVER PLAN FOR CEASEFIRE
Real IRA split over plan for ceasefire
By Tom Brady
A MAJOR split has erupted within the Real IRA, as a result of a plan to declare a ceasefire.
The ceasefire option is being strongly mooted by Michael McKevitt, who is due to face trial next January on charges of directing a terrorist organisation. Opponents to the plan are led by the group's director of operations, Liam Campbell, who has now been forced out of the Real IRA wing at Portlaoise prison. Prison authorities were warned that Campbell's life would be in danger if he remained within the Real IRA grouping in E block and he was shifted for his own safety to a single cell in D block where he was being held last night with "ordinary" criminals.
Campbell, who is serving a five-year jail sentence imposed by the Special Criminal Court last year for membership of an illegal organisation, is now based alongside associates of gangland boss John Gilligan, and those involved in the Mountjoy jail hostage-taking incident five years ago.
Leaders' dispute erupts in prison:
He is regarded by gardai as a key figure in the dissident group which has been largely inactive since his arrest.
Up to recently he was a close ally of McKevitt who has been actively canvassing for a ceasefire in the past few weeks from his jail cell.
Other associates of McKevitt, who are not members of the organisation but political supporters, have been attempting to use intermediaries to make contact with government officials to put forward the idea of a ceasefire.
The Real IRA officially declared a ceasefire following the Omagh bomb atrocity, which killed 29 people in August 1998, when it came under pressure from the public, the Irish and British governments and, more significantly, the Provisional IRA.
But within months it was clear that the declaration had been a ruse during which the organisation regrouped and a new campaign of terror was launched here and in Britain. Campbell, a 40-year-old farmer from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, is also suspected by gardai of being heavily involved in cross-border smuggling, particularly of alcohol and tobacco. In a search of his home in 2000 gardai found 96 magnums of champagne. Figures released earlier this year showed that since the Omagh bombing gardai had charged 42 Real IRA suspects, of which 20 have been convicted of terrorist-related offences.
The spate of arrests created havoc within the leadership of the organisation which resulted in the entire membership in the Dublin region being stood down because of internal rows over the identity of Garda 'moles' within the group.
However, gardai warned that the threat of new attacks existed.
By Tom Brady
A MAJOR split has erupted within the Real IRA, as a result of a plan to declare a ceasefire.
The ceasefire option is being strongly mooted by Michael McKevitt, who is due to face trial next January on charges of directing a terrorist organisation. Opponents to the plan are led by the group's director of operations, Liam Campbell, who has now been forced out of the Real IRA wing at Portlaoise prison. Prison authorities were warned that Campbell's life would be in danger if he remained within the Real IRA grouping in E block and he was shifted for his own safety to a single cell in D block where he was being held last night with "ordinary" criminals.
Campbell, who is serving a five-year jail sentence imposed by the Special Criminal Court last year for membership of an illegal organisation, is now based alongside associates of gangland boss John Gilligan, and those involved in the Mountjoy jail hostage-taking incident five years ago.
Leaders' dispute erupts in prison:
He is regarded by gardai as a key figure in the dissident group which has been largely inactive since his arrest.
Up to recently he was a close ally of McKevitt who has been actively canvassing for a ceasefire in the past few weeks from his jail cell.
Other associates of McKevitt, who are not members of the organisation but political supporters, have been attempting to use intermediaries to make contact with government officials to put forward the idea of a ceasefire.
The Real IRA officially declared a ceasefire following the Omagh bomb atrocity, which killed 29 people in August 1998, when it came under pressure from the public, the Irish and British governments and, more significantly, the Provisional IRA.
But within months it was clear that the declaration had been a ruse during which the organisation regrouped and a new campaign of terror was launched here and in Britain. Campbell, a 40-year-old farmer from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, is also suspected by gardai of being heavily involved in cross-border smuggling, particularly of alcohol and tobacco. In a search of his home in 2000 gardai found 96 magnums of champagne. Figures released earlier this year showed that since the Omagh bombing gardai had charged 42 Real IRA suspects, of which 20 have been convicted of terrorist-related offences.
The spate of arrests created havoc within the leadership of the organisation which resulted in the entire membership in the Dublin region being stood down because of internal rows over the identity of Garda 'moles' within the group.
However, gardai warned that the threat of new attacks existed.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0875
Published Date: 02-Oct-02
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