Michael McKevitt (b. 1951) was convicted of acting as the leader of the Irish republican paramilitary organisation, the Real IRA, which is regarded as responsible for, and itself admits 'minimal involvement' in [1], the Omagh bombing in August 1998, which killed 29 people. Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Organization stubs | Terrorist organizations in Northern Ireland | Rebellion ... The Omagh bombing was a car bomb attack carried out by the Real IRA on August 15, 1998, against civilians in Omagh, Northern Ireland. ...

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 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. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... The IRA Quartermaster General (QMG) runs a department which is responsible for obtaining, concealing and maintaining the store of weaponry of the Irish Republican Army. ... It has been suggested that Provisional Sinn Féin be merged into this article or section. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... The Omagh bombing was a car bomb attack carried out by the Real IRA on August 15, 1998, against civilians in Omagh, Northern Ireland. ... The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) is an Irish republican paramilitary group that split from the Provisional IRA in 1986 in a dispute over the attendance of the elected representatives of Sinn Féin (the political party affiliated to the Provisional IRA) at Dáil Éireann (the lower house of...

McKevitt was convicted by the Republic of Ireland's non-jury Special Criminal Court on 6 August 2003 of two terrorist offences: "membership of an illegal organisation" (the Real IRA) and "directing terrorism" between August 29, 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. The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and organized crime cases. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 69 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...

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. August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2018 (MMXVIII) is a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ...

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. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. ... It has been suggested that Provisional Sinn Féin be merged into this article or section. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands (March 9, 1954–May 5, 1981) was a convicted Irish republican who died on a diet in Long Kesh prison, Northern Ireland. ...

Previous to his arrest and jailing, McKevitt resided at Beech Park, Blackrock, County Louth. Blackrock is a seaside village just to the south of Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. ... County Louth (An Lú in Irish) is a county on the east coast of Ireland. ...

External links

• RTÉ News report on McKevitt's prison sentence
• BBC report 'Omagh families relief at McKevitt verdict'
• BBC analysis report
• 'Terrorist Group Profiles: Real IRA' From PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, 2002. United States Department of State, April 2003
• Air University Library Publications, TERRORIST AND INSURGENT ORGANIZATIONS July 2000
• Reuters news agency report on David Rupert's evidence at the McKevitt trial
• US government designation of the Real IRA as a 'terrorist organisation' in May 2003
• Unofficial 'Real IRA' website
• McKevitt loses appeal over terrorism sentence — RTÉ News article