Bernard Henry McGinn

Bernard Henry McGinn (c. 1957 – body discovered 21 December 2013) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer who was sentenced to a total of 490 years' imprisonment in 1999.^[1] He was released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.^[2]^[3]

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Background and IRA activity

McGinn was born into an Irish republican family in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland. His father was a former Sinn Féin councillor and his brother-in-law, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, has been a Sinn Féin TD for Cavan–Monaghan since 1997.^[4]^[5]

In 1978 Dessie O'Hare and McGinn killed Thomas Johnston, a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) in Keady, South Armagh.^[5] In 1979 McGinn was arrested at a disused farmhouse and charged with possession of explosives. He failed to turn up at his trial and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in absentia. After several months on the run, he was arrested in Dundalk following a 27-hour siege, during which he held a family hostage with a pistol and a hand grenade.^[5] McGinn was released from prison in 1987, and joined the IRA's South Armagh Brigade. Initially viewed as an outsider, within several years he became a trusted member of the brigade, helping assemble bombs used by the IRA in England.^[5] He was a member of one of two sniper teams which killed nine members of the security forces between 1992 and 1997, including Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, who was killed by a single shot from a Barrett M90 sniper rifle on 12 February 1997, and was the last British Army soldier to be killed during The Troubles.^[6]

Arrest and trial

McGinn and other members of the sniper team were arrested by the Special Air Service at a farm near Crossmaglen on 10 April 1997, and taken to Gough Barracks in Armagh for questioning.^[7] During a week of questioning, McGinn confessed to his role in the IRA bombing campaign, and implicated more than twenty members of the South Armagh Brigade in attacks in Northern Ireland and England. He claimed to have manufactured explosive mixes varying from between 200 pounds and 10 tons, and said it was "like a day's work".^[1]^[5]

On 19 March 1999 McGinn was sentenced to a total of 490 years' imprisonment for 34 separate offences, including the murder of three British soldiers, and involvement in the 1992 bombing of the Baltic Exchange, the 1996 Docklands bombing, and the bombing of Hammersmith Bridge later the same year.^[1] He laughed at his sentence, knowing that he would be freed, at most, in shortly over a year under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.^[1] Two months after his conviction McGinn was temporarily released on compassionate grounds to visit his sick mother, which caused anger and consternation among unionists.^[4] On 28 July 2000, McGinn was freed from HM Prison Maze, after serving 16 months.^[2]

Appeal

On 5 October 2000 McGinn's convictions for explosives offences and the soldiers' murders were overturned at the Court of Appeal in Belfast on the grounds that he was not properly cautioned before he confessed. The court, however, dismissed his appeals against convictions for conspiracy to murder and firearms possession for which he received a twenty-year sentence at his original trial.^[7]^[8]

Death

McGinn was found dead at a house in Monaghan Town on 21 December 2013. The cause of death remained unknown, pending a post-mortem examination.^[9] It was later reported that he died of a suspected heart attack.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "IRA killer laughs at sentence". BBC. 19 March 1999. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b John Mullin (29 July 2000). "Prisoner releases: Some smiled, others covered their heads". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
^ Staff (21 December 2013). "IRA sniper McGinn found dead in Monaghan". BreakingNews.ie. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Temporary release of top IRA sniper to visit ill mother angers Unionists". The Irish News. 31 May 1999. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Harnden, Toby (1999). Bandit Country. Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 313–318. ISBN 0-340-71736-X.
^ Harnden, pp. 387–90.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Peter (2001). Brits. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 355–357. ISBN 0-7475-5806-X.
^ "Soldier murder conviction quashed". BBC. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
^ Notorious terrorist found dead – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
^ - South Armagh IRA rocked as 'OC' is outed as a 'tout' BelfastTelegrapg.co.uk

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General

Organisation

Actions

1970–1979	Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew 1970 Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Red Lion bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall Street bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Old Bailey bombing Honey Trap killings King's Cross & Euston bombings Coleraine bombings 1973 Westminster bombing M62 bombing Clogher attack Houses of Parliament bombing Tower of London bombing Guildford pub bombings Harrow School bombing Brooks's Club bombing Woolwich pub bombing British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings London pillar box bombings Talbot Arms bombing Bristol bombing Telephone exchange bombings 1974 Oxford Street bombing Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings Mountainview attack Bayardo Bar attack Forkhill attack Caterham Arms bombing Tullyvallen massacre London Hilton bombing Piccadilly bombing Trattoria Fiore bombing Scott's Oyster Bar bombing Walton's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre Cannon Street train bombing West Ham station attack Olympia bombing Store bar shooting Stag Inn attack Garryhinch ambush Jonesborough Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Crossmaglen ambush Warrenpoint ambush Brussels bombing Dungannon attack
1980–1989	Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Glasdrumman ambush 1981 Bessbrook attack Chelsea Barracks bombing Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings Harrods bombing Royal Artillery Barracks bombing Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack Enniskillen mortar attack RUC Birches barracks attack Rheindahlen bombing Loughgall ambush Operation Flavius Corporals killings Lisburn bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown 1988 Netherlands attacks Glamorgan barracks bombing Inglis Barracks bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Clive Barracks bombing Deal barracks bombing Mayobridge attack Derryard attack
1990–1991	Derrygorry Gazelle downing South Armagh sniper Downpatrick roadside bomb Operation Conservation Carlton Club bombing 1990 Eltham bombing 1990 Wembley bombing Honourable Artillery Company bombing Lichfield gun attack RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing Street mortar attack Paddington & Victoria station bombings Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Crumlin Road Prison bombing
1992–1997	Teebane bombing Clonoe ambush London Bridge bombing Staples Cnr bombing Baltic Exchange bombing Sussex Arms bombing Cloghoge attack Coalisland riots Forensic Science Laboratory bombing Stoke Newington Road bomb 1992 Manchester bombing Night of the Long Knives 1993 Harrods bombing Warrington bombings Cullaville occupation Camden bombing Bishopsgate bombing Finchley Road bombings Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing 1993 Fivemiletown ambush Heathrow attacks Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing Aldwych bus bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Hammersmith Bridge bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)

Espionage and
Supergrasses

Eamon Collins
Denis Donaldson
Joseph Fenton
Kevin Fulton
Raymond Gilmour
Martin McGartland
Sean O'Callaghan
Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates

Derivatives

Prominent
killings

This page was last edited on 21 November 2023, at 17:42

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