Gabriel Cleary (born ) is a former senior

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

in the

Provisional IRA 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 ...

. A native of Tallaght,

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, he was arrested in 1987 when the French and Irish governments intercepted a shipment of weapons from Libya aboard the Eksund. After spending five years in French prison, Cleary was freed in 1992. He was arrested again in a raid on an underground bomb factory in

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

in 1996 and was sentenced to 20-years in February 1998; though he was later released from Portlaoise prison the same year as part of the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...

. Cleary was the Director of Engineering on the Provisional IRA's General Headquarters Staff (GHQ).

References

Bibliography

*Carolan, Mary (1998). "Libel trial told Adams, Doherty and McGuinness were at IRA meeting", '' Irish Times'', April 30, 1998. *Kirby, Terry (1992). "Irish Police Arrest Freed Gun-Runner", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. January 25, 1992. *Murdoch, Alan (1998). "Four IRA Bomb-makers Released from Prison", ''The Independent''. November 1, 1998. 1945 births Date of birth missing (living people) Irish republicans Living people People from Tallaght Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict {{Ireland-engineer-stub