Gareth Paul O'Connor

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Police Service Of Northern Ireland Psni Garda S Och (NA)

Offense Location:

Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Northern Ireland

Summary:

Gareth Paul O'Connor was a 24-year-old member of the Real IRA from County Armagh and father of two who disappeared in May 2003 while traveling to Dundalk Garda Station to sign bail conditions related to Real IRA membership charges. On 11 June 2005, O'Connor's body was discovered in his car in Newry Canal, County Down. His family believes he was killed by the Provisional IRA.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Gareth O'Connor, a 24-year-old father of two from Armagh City, had been arrested in Dublin in November 2002 and charged with membership of the Real IRA after assisting in transporting a vehicle for the dissident republican group. He was granted bail in the Irish Republic, subject to weekly reporting conditions at Dundalk Garda Station, a routine he followed consistently in the months leading up to his disappearance. When he hadn't arrived home by 11:30 a.m., his partner Leona rang him. His phones were switched off. Armagh man Gareth O'Connor disappeared without warning two weeks into May 2003. His family believed he was abducted by the IRA. O'Connor was captured three minutes later on security cameras, driving through Newtownhamilton. It was the last sighting of him. Security sources believe he was abducted just outside the Border village. It is understood the authorities discovered his body after a priest was contacted anonymously and given the location of his remains. While the cause of his death has never been established, informed sources say that the Armagh man was not shot but died as the result of a severe beating.

Additional Details:

Prior to his Real IRA charge, O'Connor had associations with the Provisional IRA, including participation in a fundraising scam that resulted in personal financial loss; his father later stated that O'Connor had sought to recover these funds from the group in the period immediately before his vanishing, potentially heightening tensions within republican circles. In 2003 O'Connor was arrested and charged with membership of the Real IRA in Dublin while helping to transport a vehicle for the group. Republicans believe that he was also working as an agent for authorities in the Republic but because he was given no warning about the plan to move the vehicle he did not have an opportunity to warn Gardai he was part of the operation. Republicans say that although he had already fallen under suspicion as an agent it was while in Garda custody that he made a fatal mistake. While in custody he told Gardai he wanted to ring his 'uncle' but it later became known he phoned Armagh PSNI station. The number he dialled was recorded in case papers. Real IRA agent Gareth O'Connor is believed to have played a part in stopping more than 10 gun and bomb attacks, saving multiple lives. Republican sources say the murdered 24 year-old was centrally involved in several planned attacks that were either abandoned or led to the arrests of paramilitary suspects. It is now believed he was killed by several former associates who suspected he was working as a security force agent. An inquest into his death was dramatically halted in 2015 after it emerged during the proceedings that in 2008 a so-called comfort letter was mistakenly issued to a leading suspect. That hearing was told that the letter was passed from the Government to Sinn Fein Assembly member Gerry Kelly, who then passed it to the individual who has been identified as a suspect in the killing of Mr O'Connor. A Police Ombudsman spokesman told the PA news agency that the report into Mr O'Connor's death has not yet been made public.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 21, 2026