Sean Kelly, (born c. 1972) is a former Irish

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

in the Belfast Brigade of the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA), who was a member of the

active service unit An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Clandestine cell system, cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were i ...

which carried out the Shankill Road bombing in 1993. Kelly was convicted of nine counts of murder, but was released in 2000 as part of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

Shankill Road bomb

Kelly was convicted for his part in planting a bomb on the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

, West

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, intending to kill

Johnny Adair John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is a Northern Irish loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Th ...

and senior members of the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

(UDA). The bomb exploded prematurely, killing eight Protestant civilians and a member of the UDA. An 11-second fuse was meant to detonate the bomb after they had shouted a warning. Thomas Begley, a fellow volunteer in the Belfast Brigade, was killed in the botched attack, which left Kelly injured; he lost an eye and has limited use of his left arm. Kelly was arrested after being picked up by rescuers searching for survivors in the wreckage. Kelly was sentenced to nine terms of life imprisonment at his trial in January 1995. The judge at his trial, Lord Justice McDermott, described the bombing as "wanton slaughter" and "one of the worst outrages to beset this province in 25 years of violence".

Release after the Good Friday Agreement

Kelly was released in July 2000 under the terms of the

. During the

Holy Cross dispute The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the 30-year conflict known as the Troubles, Ardoyne had become segregated – Ulster Protestants and Irish Catholics lived in separat ...

, Kelly was reported by Lt. Col. Tim Collins to be present during republican violence in

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Roman Catholic Church, Catholic and Irish republicanism, Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1920 the adjacent area of Marrowbone saw at multiple days of communal violence be ...

. Kelly was returned to prison on 18 June 2005 when his early release was suspended amid allegations that he had been involved in rioting.

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

stated he was trying to calm tensions.

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

, Northern Ireland Secretary, said that he had directed the arrest and return to prison of Kelly on the basis of "security information" available to him. He said he was "satisfied" that Kelly had become re-involved in terrorism. Kelly was re-released on 28 July the same year. The next day the IRA ordered an end to its armed campaign.

Arrest after shooting incident

In February 2013, Kelly was arrested in connection with a shooting incident which resulted in an 18-year-old male requiring emergency hospital treatment, after being shot in both legs, in what was described as a paramilitary-style attack. The

PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it w ...

later said that following inquiries, it was no longer being treated as such, but rather as a shooting. First minister Peter Robinson said the arrest could have "grave consequences" for the political process and called for a meeting with PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott, to find out how police are able to say that the shooting is not linked to paramilitaries and also to establish the background of the case.

Work with Sinn Féin

Kelly canvassed for Sinn Féin's

John Finucane John Finucane (born 1980) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and solicitor. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency), Belfast North since the 2019 United Kingdom ...

in the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and 2019 Westminster elections. This was criticised by the families of some of the victims of the Shankill Road bombing.

John O'Dowd John Fitzgerald O'Dowd (born 10 May 1967) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann since 2003, and has served as Minister for Finance since February 2025. He served as Minister ...

of Sinn Féin defended the party's decision to use Kelly as a canvasser, saying, "Sean Kelly is out canvassing to promote politics and the peace process".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Sean 1972 births Irish republicans imprisoned by non-jury courts Irish republicans imprisoned on terrorism charges Living people Paramilitaries from Belfast Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland Provisional Irish Republican Army members