‘He’s ruthless when it comes to business. Slab has no qualms about anything’

MULTI-MILLIONAIRE farmer and alleged IRA chief Tom ‘Slab’ Murphy’s era as an untouchable may be set to crumble.

Even though police and customs chiefs suspect he has amassed fortunes from sophisticated fuel and cattle smuggling operations, Murphy has never been convicted.

The shadowy businessman, who demands complete loyalty from about 50 men on his payroll, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful figures in the republican movement.

But while Sinn Féin leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness negotiate with London, Dublin and Washington, Murphy shuns all publicity.

Instead, the 42-year-old lives alone and in jealously-guarded privacy on a farm at Hackballscross, straddling the border at Armagh and Louth. It is from this sprawling family estate that he allegedly devised ingenious bootlegging techniques.

Oil and petrol tanks located on either side of the farm regularly pump fuel across the border through underground pipelines, anti-racketeers believe. All attempts by the authorities to move against him have been thwarted by the burly farmer folding companies and declaring them insolvent.

But after the Assets Recovery Agency launched a major offensive on £30 million (44m) worth of property in Manchester allegedly linked to Murphy, experts who have studied his operation claimed the cloak of secrecy may at last be slipping.

One informed source said: “This could be just the start of it. People shouldn’t think it’s just a question of seizing some assets. That’s only the tip of the empire.”

Unlike other farmers struggling to carve out a living, Murphy is believed to have built up an impressive portfolio of stocks and shares.

A bank of TV screens at his home is used to monitor the world’s stock markets, it has been claimed. Despite immense wealth, Murphy prefers a simple existence.

Few pictures of the alleged IRA godfather exist. Photographers and camera crews spotted near his property have been scared off in high-speed car chases.

Murphy is one of the most enduring and secretive members of the IRA in recent history, acting as its chief-of-staff since 1996 and playing a key role in some of the group’s most important moments.

Reportedly trained in Libya in the 1970s, he was appointed to the IRA’s General Headquarters staff in the mid 1980s and is alleged to have been a central figure in organising the huge arms shipments which the IRA received from Libya in 1987/1988.

As commander of the IRA’s South Armagh Brigade, he led the most deadly of all the IRA’s units and gained respect from other senior IRA men across the country.

As well as his own alleged rackets, it is claimed he demands a cut from any other smugglers using roads near his farm.

One security source warned: “He’s ruthless when it comes to business. Slab has no qualms about anything.”