Brian Gillen

Brian "Ginger" Gillen (born 1956/1957)[1] was alleged to be a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and, later, named to the IRA Army Council.[2][3] His solicitor was Patrick Finucane, who was shot dead by loyalists in 1989.[4]

In 1995 Gillen, as Officer Commanding of the IRA's Belfast Brigade, was a member of the IRA Executive and was critical of the strategy employed by Gerry Adams.[5] In 1997, he was elected to the Army Council with the backing of Adams, after he backed the leadership over dissident republicans who wished to steer the IRA in a more hardline direction.[6]

In 2000, Gillen, along with Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty and Brian Keenan were issued with a subpoena, in order to appear at Northern Ireland High Court as part of a civil action which was taken by relatives of the 29 Omagh bombing victims.[7]

References

1. Gillen age given as 58 as of 8 September 2015, irishtimes.com; accessed 24 September 2015.
2. "He did the IRA's dirty work for 25 years - and was paid £80,000 a year by the government". The Guardian. 12 May 2003.
3. Sinn Fein leaders ordered to court Archived 2006-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, scotsman.com; accessed 24 September 2015.
4. "Collusion - Transcript of BBC Panorama programme". CAIN. 19 July 2002. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
5. Moloney, Ed (2002). A Secret History of the IRA. Penguin Books. pp. 438–439. ISBN 0-14-101041-X.
6. A Secret History of the IRA, pp. 477-479.
7. Adams is subpoenaed by Omagh relatives to appear at civil action, irishtimes.com; accessed 24 September 2015.

External links

• Brian Gillen, ex-Belfast Brigade boss, sued police over assault, belfasttelegraph.co.uk; accessed 24 September 2015.