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See also: Continuity Army Council of the IRA - which a small minority of republicans recognise as the Army Council of the IRA, as opposed to the Provisional Army Council discussed in this article. __TOC__ BACKGROUND The IRA is a "proscribed organization" under the terms of the Offences Against the State Acts in the Republic Of Ireland and under equivalent anti-terrorist legislation in the United Kingdom , making membership of it a criminal offence. In the Republic, conviction for membership is possible in the Special Criminal Court, where three judges hear cases without a jury, on the evidence of a Garda superintendent or higher rank, and carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment. Senior members of Sinn Féin , some of whom have sat on the army council according to the British and Irish governments, together with IRA members not known to be involved in illegal activities, have been effectively immune from prosecution in recent years in order to enable progress in the Peace Process . On 14th January 2005, Martin Ferris (Sinn Féin party, T.D. for North Kerry) was accused of being a member of the IRA army council in an article in the Irish Times written by journalist Kevin Myers . In the same article, Myers also accused members of Sinn Féin who had visited Downing Street in December 2004 , which included Gerry Adams, of sitting on the army council. On February 20 , 2005 , Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell publicly named Gerry Adams, Martin Ferris, and Martin McGuinness MP, Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, as members of the army council during a radio interview. The three men issued a statement the next day denying the charge. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,1419862,00.html On July 27th 2005, Michael McDowell expressed his belief that Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris had recently (i.e. within the previous few days) left the IRA army council. However he also claimed that it was his opinion that this by itself did not necessarily amount to a permanent split between the two organisations. The accuracy of Minister McDowell's interventions related above is a matter of debate. Sinn Fein supporters would point out that McDowell is a member of the Progressive Democrats, a minor political party and junior Coalition partner, and hence is a direct political competitor of Sinn Fein, both for votes and the junior role in the next Coalition government, and therefore has a vested interest in undermining Sinn Fein. MEMBERSHIP Although information about the current leadership of the Provisional IRA is difficult to verify, the believed current figures at the top of the IRA hierarchy are below. Army Council (As of 2006) Thomas 'Slab' Murphy - ''Chief Of Staff'' Martin Lynch - ''Assistant Chief Of Staff'' Brian Gillen - ''Army Council member since 1997'' Sean 'Spike' Murray - ''Adjutant-General'' Brian Arthurs - Commander, ''County Tyrone'' James 'Jim' Monaghan - ''Engineer from Dublin'' Bernard Fox - ''Ex-Director Of Engineering'' General Headquarters Staff Kevin Agnew - ''Quartermaster-General'' Kevin McBride - ''Director of Security'' Patrick Murphy - ''Internal Security'' Bobby Storey - ''Director of Intelligence'' Patrick Thompson - ''Director of Finance'' Martin McAuley - ''Director of Engineering'' Mathew O'Brien - ''Director of Operations'' General Army Convention (October 2005) At the GAC in October 2005, the following changes were made to the IRA leadership: Martin Lynch replaced Gerry Adams on Army Council Sean Murray replaced Martin McGuinness on Army Council Brian Arthurs, James Monaghan and Bernard Fox replaced Martin Ferris, Sean Gerard Hughes and Brian Keenan on the Army Council. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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