Who’s on the IRA Army Council? These are the men thought to currently sit on it
Sinn Fein say they’ve gone away, security experts say they still exist
It’s 46 years since the IRA claimed its first murder victim of the Troubles, and 17 years on from their pledge to unarmed peace.
In recent weeks:
- Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has stated a number of former volunteers may have held on to weapons.
- Gerry Kelly stated “The IRA has gone away.”
- He refused to be quizzed on any details of the IRA’s seven man army council,
- Former members have revealed there’s still a ton of Semtex and guns in storage and,
- A government commission reported the Provisional IRA’s decision-making body the ‘army council’ still exists .
Based on current MI5 and police intelligence, the report’s authors stated earlier this month: “IRA members believe that the PAC [army council] oversees both PIRA and Sinn Féin with an overarching strategy.”
But the investigation into claims of the continued existence of the IRA and other terror groups found that the army council has a “wholly political focus” and poses no threat to the British state or the peace process.
The IRA’s Green Book of rules states members must make a ‘volunteers’ oath’.
It reads: “I do solemnly promise to uphold and have belief in the objectives of the IRA and obey all orders issued to me by the Army Council and all my superior officers.”
So who is suspected of being in the current IRA Army Council?
Voted in by 12 mainstream republican bigwigs, the IRA Army Council is suspected to currently include:
Brian Gillen, 58, from Belfast
Opposed peace process, but remained loyal to Gerry Adams and supported Martin McGuinness.
Senior republican Gillen, was one of the first to arrive at the scene to support the family of murdered IRA commander Gerard Jock Davison who was shot dead in Belfast last May.
In 2001, the then DUP East Belfast MP Peter Robinson, used House of Commons parliamentary privilege, to accused Mr Gillen of being a member of the IRA army council.
Arrested over the Kevin McGuigan murder , it is alleged he is Officer Commanding and was made a member of the IRA army executive in 1995, before being elected onto army council 1997.
Sean “The Surgeon” Hughes, 53, from Jonesborough, Co Armagh
Hughes was named 10 years ago by Peter Robinson under Parliamentary Privilege as a member of the IRA army council and linked to the Canary Wharf bombing in 1996 which left two people dead and brought the IRA ceasefire to an end.
He was named during the Smithwick Tribunal by a former RUC Special Branch detective inspector as leader of the North Louth/Drumintee unit of south Armagh IRA that murdered Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan on March 20, 1989.
East Belfast Democratic Unionist MP and now party leader Peter Robinson used parliamentary privilege in December 2002 to say Hughes was responsible for the murder of 12 soldiers at Warrenpoint, Co Down, a mortar bomb in Newry, Co Down, and the killing of Lord Chief Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife Cecily in 1987.
Hughes was due to go on trial in Belfast Crown Court last June on charges of belonging to a proscribed organisation and addressing a meeting to encourage support for the IRA. The key prosecution witnesses withdrew from the case and Hughes was acquitted of all charges.
Bobby Storey, 59, from New Lodge
Bobby Storey was released unconditionally by the PSNI after his arrest over the Kevin McGuigan murder
Sinn Féin’s Northern chairman spent two years in Long Kesh
He is believed to have joined the IRA when he was 16 and within a year he had been interned went on to served two years in Long Kesh. He has served long prison sentences and several stretches on remand.
In 1979 he was arrested in London following a helicopter attempt to free the late IRA leader Brian Keenan from a jail in Brixton, London.
He was acquitted but was later was sentenced to 18 years following a gun attack on two British soldiers.
With North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly, he was one of the leaders of the IRA breakout from the Maze in 1983 in which 38 prisoners escaped. He was released under the Good Friday Agreement.
Martin “Duckster” Lynch from Belfast
Previously reported to be a former member of the IRA Army Council, worked as a driver for Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam, authorised the bugging of the car driven him throughout 1997 and 1998.
Lynch’s role was to drive Martin McGuinness to talks with British and Irish ministers as well as other political parties prior to the Good Friday Agreement. He served 10 years for weapons offences.
Sean “Spike” Murray, 62, from Belfast
Has been an IRA stalwart and remained a key Sinn Fein representative in his native city who is heavily involved in parading discussions.
Murray was part of SF delegation that met PSNI Chief Constable at PSNI HQ in August despite a live police investigation into claims he smuggled 200 handguns from Florida into Northern Ireland after the IRA ceasefire.
One of the powerful Glock pistols was used in the 1997 murders RUC constables David Johnston and John Graham in Lurgan. He was allegedly the IRA’s Northern Command Operations officer who spent 12 years in jail following a explosives conviction.
Padraic Wilson, 57, from Andersonstown
Was a former IRA leader in the Maze Prison and was reportedly involved in a Provo investigation into the murder of Robert McCartney. Statements from the victim’s sisters claim Wilson held at least two meetings with them at which he claimed to be a member of the organisation’s army council.
Wilson was jailed in 1991 for 24 years for a failed bombing attempts and was released under Good Friday Agreement.
Wilson was due to go on trial in Belfast Crown Court last June on charges of belonging to a proscribed organisation and addressing a meeting to encourage support for the IRA. The key prosecution witnesses withdrew from the case and Wilson was acquitted of all charges.
A senior Sinn Fein politician
The leading member of Sinn Fein has previously been named in the House of Commons as an Army Council member. One of his roles has been to locate safe places in rural Ireland for IRA meetings and training camps. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
