Bernard Henry McGinn
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Bernard Henry McGinn | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1957 |
| Died | 21 December 2013 (aged 55–56) |
| Occupation | Irish republican volunteer |
| Organization | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Known for | IRA activity |
| Criminal status | Released under the Good Friday Agreement (2000) |
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]
McGinn was born into an Irish republican family in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland c. 1957. 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]
IRA Activity
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]
