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 Pat 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]