INTERPOL ARE on the hunt on for a senior IRA member who disappeared shortly before he was due to stand trial for child sexual abuse charges.
According to RTE, the man, who cannot be identified due to the nature of the charges against him, was a leading member of the Provisional IRA, and is believed to have been an influential senior leader at the time of the killing of ‘The General’ Martin Cahill in Dublin in 1994.
He is believed to have stepped down after the organisation’s murder of Detective Garda Gerry McCabe in County Limerick in 1996.
The 68-year old was initially extradited from Spain, where he had been living, in order to face the charges against him after a woman came forward claiming she had been sexually assaulted on four occasions by the man when she was a child.
This man is only one of many former IRA members are under investigation for historic sexual abuse allegations.
Upon his arrest and extradition in February 2016 he was granted bail, despite objections from Gardaí who may have been aware he was at serious flight risk.
He was required to sign on daily at a Dublin Garda station to prove he was still in the country in the lead-up to his trial, and was diligent in this—until he disappeared two days before the trial was due to begin.
Gaining the public’s support in apprehending the man will prove impossible, as neither his name nor appearance can be revealed. However, international police organisation Interpol is believed to be attempting to track the man.
