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. He was released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Early life and background 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.

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.

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. 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".

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.

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. It was later reported that he died of a suspected heart attack.