| Michael Mckevitt |
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McKevitt was a longtime senior member of the Provisional IRA and served as the organisation's Quartermaster General , a role which gave him unique personal knowledge of the whereabouts of, and access to Provisional IRA arms dumps. He quit the organisation in protest at the movement's ceasefires and its participation through Sinn Féin in the Irish peace process which led to the Belfast Agreement . McKevitt launched his own IRA, called the ''Real IRA'', using guns and weaponry he as the Quartermaster General of the Provisional IRA had known the whereabouts of and had seized. According to information revealed in his trial, among his plans was to attempt the assassination of British Prime Minister Tony Blair . The Real IRA played a role (and some would say a major role) in the Omagh Bombing , in which 29 people died. Though the Continuity IRA picked the target for the bomb, the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the attack. McKevitt was convicted by the , 1999 and October 23 , 2000 . He was the first person to be convicted of the latter offence, introduced in the aftermath of the Omagh Bombing. The prosecution case was based on the testimony of an American FBI informant, David Rupert. Mr. Justice Richard Johnson said of McKevitt, "The accused played a leading role in the organisation which he directed and induced others to join." On 7 August 2003 he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Given all possible reductions and remission, it means that the earliest he can be released is 2018 . McKevitt appealed his convictions to the Court Of Criminal Appeal , arguing that Rupert's testimony was unreliable since he had been paid large sums of money for his role as an informant ($1.4 million from the FBI, and £400,000 from MI5 ), and because of Rupert's long criminal record. In December 2005, the court rejected these arguments and said that Rupert was a credible witness. Both of McKevitt's convictions were upheld. McKevitt is married to Bernadette Sands McKevitt , the sister of 1981 Provisional IRA Hunger Striker and Sinn Féin MP , Bobby Sands , who died during his hunger strike. Bernadette Sands McKevitt has been described in media reports as the third highest ranking Real IRA officer. Previous to his arrest and jailing, McKevitt resided at Beech Park, Blackrock , County Louth . EXTERNAL LINKS
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