SOVEREIGNTY COUPLE NOT IN HIDING
Sovereignty couple 'not in hiding' claim their friends
By Tony Bailie
FRIENDS of Michael McKevitt and Bernadette Sands McKevitt insisted yesterday they had not gone into hiding. Both are prominent members of dissident republican group, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement which has been linked to the Real IRA, the group which claimed responsibility for the Omagh bomb.
It had been suggested that the couple, who have three young children, had fled their Co Louth home because of hostility to their presence in the wake of the bomb.
There were reports that a picket would be mounted outside the McKevitt's Blackrock home, near Dundalk, at the weekend but this did not materialise.
When the Irish News tried to contact the couple yesterday afternoon a man answering the phone said neither was available.
When asked if the couple were still in Dundalk the man replied: "Of course they are, where else would they be? They are just not available to speak to you."
On Friday, Dundalk solicitors Mac Guill and Company issued a statement to the press saying they had advised the McKevitts to make no comments to the media.
The solicitors said this was because of "various false and defamatory statements published of them in the media in recent days."
That speculation continued yesterday, with a number of publications profiling the couple and making further serious allegations.
Locks at a shop owned by Ms Sands McKevitt in the Longwalk shopping centre in Dundalk were changed on Friday by the centre's management after pressure from other tenants. Ms Sands McKevitt, sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, was escorted from her premises by security guards on Friday afternoon.
Other tenants at the centre had alleged there was a dramatic slump in business following the Omagh bomb and subsequent media reports highlighting the McKevitts' role in the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
There was also intense media speculation at the weekend over the whereabouts of Omagh councillor Francie Mackey, who is chairman of the group.
Mr Mackey, who was expelled from Sinn Fein earlier this year because of his opposition to the Good Friday agreement, backtracked on an initial refusal to condemn last Saturday's bombing. Later in the week he issued a statement saying "the killing of innocent people can not be justified in any circumstances."
Mr Mackey's son, Shane, was one of five people arrested and questioned last week, but was later released without charge.
It is understood there has been widespread hostility to Mr Mackey in Omagh following the bomb and a number of sources have said he has also gone into hiding.
The Irish News contacted Mr Mackey's home on a number of occasions yesterday afternoon, but received no reply.
By Tony Bailie
FRIENDS of Michael McKevitt and Bernadette Sands McKevitt insisted yesterday they had not gone into hiding. Both are prominent members of dissident republican group, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement which has been linked to the Real IRA, the group which claimed responsibility for the Omagh bomb.
It had been suggested that the couple, who have three young children, had fled their Co Louth home because of hostility to their presence in the wake of the bomb.
There were reports that a picket would be mounted outside the McKevitt's Blackrock home, near Dundalk, at the weekend but this did not materialise.
When the Irish News tried to contact the couple yesterday afternoon a man answering the phone said neither was available.
When asked if the couple were still in Dundalk the man replied: "Of course they are, where else would they be? They are just not available to speak to you."
On Friday, Dundalk solicitors Mac Guill and Company issued a statement to the press saying they had advised the McKevitts to make no comments to the media.
The solicitors said this was because of "various false and defamatory statements published of them in the media in recent days."
That speculation continued yesterday, with a number of publications profiling the couple and making further serious allegations.
Locks at a shop owned by Ms Sands McKevitt in the Longwalk shopping centre in Dundalk were changed on Friday by the centre's management after pressure from other tenants. Ms Sands McKevitt, sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, was escorted from her premises by security guards on Friday afternoon.
Other tenants at the centre had alleged there was a dramatic slump in business following the Omagh bomb and subsequent media reports highlighting the McKevitts' role in the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
There was also intense media speculation at the weekend over the whereabouts of Omagh councillor Francie Mackey, who is chairman of the group.
Mr Mackey, who was expelled from Sinn Fein earlier this year because of his opposition to the Good Friday agreement, backtracked on an initial refusal to condemn last Saturday's bombing. Later in the week he issued a statement saying "the killing of innocent people can not be justified in any circumstances."
Mr Mackey's son, Shane, was one of five people arrested and questioned last week, but was later released without charge.
It is understood there has been widespread hostility to Mr Mackey in Omagh following the bomb and a number of sources have said he has also gone into hiding.
The Irish News contacted Mr Mackey's home on a number of occasions yesterday afternoon, but received no reply.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0172
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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