Thomas Murphy (Irish republican)
| Thomas Murphy | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Slab" |
| Born |
26 August 1949 Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, County Louth, Ireland |
| Years of service | 1969–1998 |
| Rank | Chief of Staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Commands held |
South Armagh Brigade Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Battles/wars | The Troubles |
Thomas "Slab" Murphy (Irish: Tomás Mac Murchaidh: born 26 August 1949) is an Irish republican and convicted tax evader, believed to be a former Chief of Staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. His farm straddles County Armagh and County Louth on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In December 2015, Murphy was found guilty on nine counts of tax evasion following a lengthy investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau of the Republic of Ireland. In February 2016, Murphy was jailed and sentenced to 18 months in prison. One of three brothers, Murphy is a lifelong bachelor who lived on the Louth side of his farm before his imprisonment.
Murphy was allegedly involved with the South Armagh Brigade of the IRA before being elected Chief of Staff by the IRA Army Council.Toby Harnden (ex-correspondent for the Daily Telegraph) named him as planning the Warrenpoint ambush of 1979, in which 18 British soldiers were killed, and he was also allegedly implicated in the Mullaghmore bombing the same day, which killed four people (including two children and Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma). Murphy was involved in smuggling huge stockpiles of weapons from Libya in the 1980s and was a member of the Army Council that decided to end its first ceasefire with the 1996 Docklands bombing in London that killed two men.
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