Family fury as Omagh accused goes on trial over atrocity
Laurence Rushe, whose wife Libby died in the August 1998 bombing, rushed forward from his seat in the public gallery and shouted at Michael McKevitt as the alleged Real IRA chief blew a kiss to his wife, the sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands.
Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, sitting beside Mr Rushe in the gallery during yesterday morning’s hearing, waved as her husband, remanded in custody since his arrest, took his seat in the dock for the discovery hearing in the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
Mr McKevitt, aged 52, of Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth, is the first person to be charged with directing terrorism under legislation brought in following the Omagh bombing. He is charged with directing IRA activities between August 1999 up to his arrest in March last year. He is also accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation.
The hearing, before Mr Justice Richard Johnson and two other judges, comes ahead of the trial.
The court must decide whether authorities here and in Britain and the United States have furnished sufficient information for the trial to go ahead or, as Mr McKevitt’s defence claims, further documents and material relating to the credibility of the main witness are being withheld.
Dave Rupert, an American businessman, is the main prosecution witness. The court heard that he was recruited by the FBI in 1994 and three years later, he also began feeding information to the British secret service.
Rupert became involved in Irish affairs through a girlfriend in Florida, a Noraid lobbyist, in 1992, and soon began associating with prominent republicans attached to the Continuity IRA and its political arm, Republican Sinn Féin.
From August 1999, he became involved with the Real IRA, it is claimed. He was closely aligned with senior members of that group, the prosecution claims, and attended army council meetings. Mr Rupert has claimed he was told at one meeting that the Omagh bombing was a joint operation between the CIRA and the RIRA. He was recruited by the FBI following a tip-off from gardaí monitoring his movements.
Extracts from a series of affidavits, from gardaí, two FBI officers and two British officials, including the British Ambassador to Ireland, were heard in court. Each claimed that documentation relevant to the trial had been disclosed.
But both the British and the US authorities claim privilege over sensitive material that, they claim, would threaten national or international security if disclosed. Reviews were carried out by their own staff and it was decided none of it was relevant to the case, it is claimed.
The British Ambassador, Sir Ivor Roberts, was in court yesterday, but did not give oral evidence. His affidavit was made on behalf of the British Government and its secret service.
The hearing continues.
