REAL IRA A VERY REAL THREAT
Real IRA a very real threat Concern that 32-County group will gain support in US
THE Real IRA, which murdered 28 people and injured hundreds more in Omagh on Saturday, was established in October last year when a former IRA quarter master general (QMG) broke away from the Provos.
As QMG, he would have had control over IRA arms dumps south of the Border and the supply lines into the North. He would also have developed trusted international contacts for the importation of arms.
His defection was not unexpected by the mainstream IRA, because his opposition to the Adams/McGuinness strategy had been made clear. The IRA moved to take arms out of his control, fearing a breakaway, but the QMG is feared to have siphoned arms to new locations in preparation for a breakaway campaign. The Real IRA's continued use of homemade explosives would indicate its lack of access to IRA arms dumps, but, nobody can be certain of this.
After he split from the IRA, the QMG began recruiting regional quarter masters, the people in charge of storing arms in the Republic. He achieved two coups of major significance. First he recruited the IRA's regional quarter master in Cork, a Fermoy-based Provo. He then recruited a leading IRA operative who controls arms dumps in west Limerick. The Limerick-based Provo has convictions for firearms offences and is well-known to gardai.
The IRA's major arms dumps in the South are believed to be concentrated in the IRA triangle of north Cork, west Limerick, and north Kerry. Further arms are believed to be dumped in the Silvermines area in Tipperary. By recruiting two regional quartermasters, the new chief of staff of the Real IRA gained control of important figures in two-thirds of a key Munster triangle.
The Real IRA abandoned initial attempts at a recruitment campaign in north Kerry. The 32-County Sovereignty Committee, the political wing of the Real IRA, planned a public meeting in the Tralee area, but, this "was abandoned after it became clear local loyalties remained with one of Sinn Fein's chief negotiators, Martin Ferris. Mr Ferris, a Tralee-based politician, who served 10 years in jail for gun-running is well respected in Sinn Fein and republican circles and continues to support the Adams/McGuinness peace strategy.
Another crucial recruitment was that of the IRA's Head of Engineering and most of his cohorts. He is believed to have allied himself to the Real IRA some time after the breakaway last October. However, his expertise in assembling quality explosives and bombs only became apparent in March this year.
Initially, the Special Branch managed to penetrate the ranks of the Real IRA and scored notable successes in finding explosives in Dundalk, Howth and Dun Laoighaire.
When the Real IRA did manage to detonate bombs, they failed to achieve anything other than structural damage. Fatalities were avoided due to accurate warnings. However, the situation broke down in Omagh on Saturday, resulting in 28 fatalities. The former IRA head of engineering is Monaghan-based. The car used in the Omagh attack was stolen in Carrickmacross, Monaghan, last Thursday. He has brought increased sophistication to the breakaway group, including the ability to detonate bombs using mobile phones.
It is also suspected that a former officer commanding the IRA Southern Command may have joined the breakaway group. This Dublin-based man was forced to stand down his position within the IRA after the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick in June 1996.
Key figures within the group, including the Fermoy-based quarter master and the Limerick senior provo, attended a meeting of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee in Cork earlier this year. This meeting was chaired by Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, the committee's vice-chairperson. Also in attendance that night were the national organiser of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee, Michael Burke. Burke was sentenced to 12 years for his role in the Don Tidey kidnapping.
Burke answers to Bernadette Sands-McKevitt and her 49-year-old common-law husband, Micky McKevitt, self-confessed suspects for the Omagh bombing.
Bernadette Sands, a sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, travelled to the United States last year for a series of public meetings to publicise the political cause of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee. While there, she also met American Republican sympathisers opposed to the peace strategy, including former Noraid leader, Martin Galvin. Mr Galvin travelled County Louth in July and met with the leader of the Real IRA.
The Special branch is worried the 32-County group will co-ordinate a political campaign in the US, while the Real IRA bids to import arms from Libya, the US and even ETA in Spain, where it has cultivated political connections.
The new Garda powers before Cabinet yesterday could see the leaders of the organisation behind bars serving minimum six-year terms by the end of the month. In recent operations, such as the failed fire-bomb attack on London last month, the Real IRA used sleepers, people in their early 20s with no paramilitary history. Whether this new generation of extremists will view their imprisoned leaders as martyrs and carry on the fight, remains to be seen.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
THE Real IRA, which murdered 28 people and injured hundreds more in Omagh on Saturday, was established in October last year when a former IRA quarter master general (QMG) broke away from the Provos.
As QMG, he would have had control over IRA arms dumps south of the Border and the supply lines into the North. He would also have developed trusted international contacts for the importation of arms.
His defection was not unexpected by the mainstream IRA, because his opposition to the Adams/McGuinness strategy had been made clear. The IRA moved to take arms out of his control, fearing a breakaway, but the QMG is feared to have siphoned arms to new locations in preparation for a breakaway campaign. The Real IRA's continued use of homemade explosives would indicate its lack of access to IRA arms dumps, but, nobody can be certain of this.
After he split from the IRA, the QMG began recruiting regional quarter masters, the people in charge of storing arms in the Republic. He achieved two coups of major significance. First he recruited the IRA's regional quarter master in Cork, a Fermoy-based Provo. He then recruited a leading IRA operative who controls arms dumps in west Limerick. The Limerick-based Provo has convictions for firearms offences and is well-known to gardai.
The IRA's major arms dumps in the South are believed to be concentrated in the IRA triangle of north Cork, west Limerick, and north Kerry. Further arms are believed to be dumped in the Silvermines area in Tipperary. By recruiting two regional quartermasters, the new chief of staff of the Real IRA gained control of important figures in two-thirds of a key Munster triangle.
The Real IRA abandoned initial attempts at a recruitment campaign in north Kerry. The 32-County Sovereignty Committee, the political wing of the Real IRA, planned a public meeting in the Tralee area, but, this "was abandoned after it became clear local loyalties remained with one of Sinn Fein's chief negotiators, Martin Ferris. Mr Ferris, a Tralee-based politician, who served 10 years in jail for gun-running is well respected in Sinn Fein and republican circles and continues to support the Adams/McGuinness peace strategy.
Another crucial recruitment was that of the IRA's Head of Engineering and most of his cohorts. He is believed to have allied himself to the Real IRA some time after the breakaway last October. However, his expertise in assembling quality explosives and bombs only became apparent in March this year.
Initially, the Special Branch managed to penetrate the ranks of the Real IRA and scored notable successes in finding explosives in Dundalk, Howth and Dun Laoighaire.
When the Real IRA did manage to detonate bombs, they failed to achieve anything other than structural damage. Fatalities were avoided due to accurate warnings. However, the situation broke down in Omagh on Saturday, resulting in 28 fatalities. The former IRA head of engineering is Monaghan-based. The car used in the Omagh attack was stolen in Carrickmacross, Monaghan, last Thursday. He has brought increased sophistication to the breakaway group, including the ability to detonate bombs using mobile phones.
It is also suspected that a former officer commanding the IRA Southern Command may have joined the breakaway group. This Dublin-based man was forced to stand down his position within the IRA after the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick in June 1996.
Key figures within the group, including the Fermoy-based quarter master and the Limerick senior provo, attended a meeting of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee in Cork earlier this year. This meeting was chaired by Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, the committee's vice-chairperson. Also in attendance that night were the national organiser of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee, Michael Burke. Burke was sentenced to 12 years for his role in the Don Tidey kidnapping.
Burke answers to Bernadette Sands-McKevitt and her 49-year-old common-law husband, Micky McKevitt, self-confessed suspects for the Omagh bombing.
Bernadette Sands, a sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, travelled to the United States last year for a series of public meetings to publicise the political cause of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee. While there, she also met American Republican sympathisers opposed to the peace strategy, including former Noraid leader, Martin Galvin. Mr Galvin travelled County Louth in July and met with the leader of the Real IRA.
The Special branch is worried the 32-County group will co-ordinate a political campaign in the US, while the Real IRA bids to import arms from Libya, the US and even ETA in Spain, where it has cultivated political connections.
The new Garda powers before Cabinet yesterday could see the leaders of the organisation behind bars serving minimum six-year terms by the end of the month. In recent operations, such as the failed fire-bomb attack on London last month, the Real IRA used sleepers, people in their early 20s with no paramilitary history. Whether this new generation of extremists will view their imprisoned leaders as martyrs and carry on the fight, remains to be seen.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/120
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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