The Five Demands

Il 23 luglio Eirigi ha confermato che Brian Shivers è stato uno dei suoi membri. L’uomo è il secondo imputato per l’attentato alla base armata di Massereene avvenuta lo scorso 7 marzo.
Il suo arresto si è andato ad aggiungere a quello di Colin Duffy, detenuto da mesi nel carcere di Maghaberry. Lo stesso Duffy è un ex portavoce di Eirigi, che al momento dell’arresto, come organizzazione, ne ha immediatamente preso le distanze affermando che il repubblicano di Lurgan si era dimesso dai suoi ranghi un paio di settimane prima della sua presa in custodia.
Dominic Og McGlinchey, anch’egli portavoce di Eirigi, era stato inizialmente arrestato e poi scarcerato senza alcuna accusa a suo carico.
Eirigi aveva inizialmente negato che Shivers fosse stato uno dei suoi attivisti. Successivamente un portavoce ha ammesso l’appartenza dell’uomo alle file dell’organizzazione da sempre critica nei  confronti del Sinn Fein, sostenendo però che egli rassegnò le dimissioni nel novembre scorso, dopo appena sei mesi di militanza.
Fonti di sicurezza hanno però sin da subito contestato tale affermazione, affermando che Shiver ha operato come un “agente di reclutamento” per il gruppo fino a questi ultimi mesi.

Barracks murders accused is ex-eirigi (The Irish News)
Eirigi last night admitted a second man charged with the murder of two British soldiers had been one of its members.
Brian Shivers (44) appeared before Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday accused of murdering Mark Quinsey and Cengiz ‘Patrick’ Azimkar outside Massereene army barracks in Antrim in March.
The Co Derry man is the second person to be charged over the Real IRA attack in which three other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were also wounded.
In March prominent former eirigi spokesman Colin Duffy appeared in court charged with the murders.
Eirigi, a republican pressure group which is critical of Sinn Fein, distanced itself from the killings and claimed that Duffy had resigned two weeks earlier.
Another former eirigi spokes-man, Dominic Og McGlinchey, was also questioned about the attack but later released without charge.
Eirigi initially denied Shivers had been one of its activists. A spokes-man later admitted Shivers had been a member but said he had resigned last November after just six months with the organisation.
Security sources last night challenged that claim, saying he had operated as a “recruiting officer” for the group until recent months.
Shivers, of Sperrin Mews in Magherafelt, spoke in court only once, to confirm that he understood the charges of murder, attempted murder and possessing guns and ammunition with intent.
Detective Inspector Justin Galloway said forensic experts had recovered Shivers’s DNA on a mobile phone and two matches found in the getaway vehicle.
Niall Murphy, defending, said the forensic evidence was the same low-copy type discredited during the Omagh bombing trial in 2007.
“This is simply low-copy DNA which has been repackaged for legal and scientific expedience,” he said.
Mr Galloway admitted that initial tests on the matches had failed to provide strong enough evidence to link Shivers to the scene. Scientists only obtained a positive identification after combining the profiles.
He said tests on the matches had identified DNA from a second individual and tests on the phone had identified DNA from three people.