THE stolen jeep used in the bombing of the Killyhevlin Hotel in Co Fermanagh last Saturday night was located by the RUC in Northern Ireland before the blast, but went missing again prior to the explosion.
The silver grey Isuzu Trooper was stolen from outside the home of its owner in south Dublin on July 3rd last.
The vehicle was stopped at a Garda checkpoint at midnight on July 4th/5th in the Redhills area of Co Cavan. However, when the uniformed garda asked for insurance and identification, the driver left the scene at speed.
It is understood that the gardai automatically alerted the RUC to be on the look out for the vehicle.
Three or four days later the RUC located the jeep in the Newtownbutler area of Co Fermanagh and sent details of the insurance and tax discs to the gardai, who immediately established that it had been stolen in Dublin. False number plates from a vehicle of the same make had been affixed to the stolen jeep.
After locating the vehicle, the RUC apparently left it unattended. When police officers returned to the scene the jeep was no longer there.
The bombers who used the jeep packed it with 1,200 lb of home made explosives and took it to the car park of the Killyhevlin Hotel on the outskirts of Enniskillen. Two bomb warnings were received at the hotel 20 minutes before the blast.
The explosion, which occurred shortly before midnight on Saturday, injured 17 people and caused extensive damage to the hotel and to parked cars. The blast was heard across the Border in Co Cavan and came at the end of a week of serious disturbances throughout the North.
Suspicion was immediately directed at militant elements associated with Republican Sinn Fein, although the party denied any involvement in the affair.
Late last night, the following statement was received from the RUC - The police can confirm that the vehicle passed through a Garda checkpoint in Cavan and was subsequently left 500 metres on the Northern side of the Border outside Newtownbutler. Due to the dangers represented by its location, its proximity to the Border and the possibility of terrorist attack, the vehicle could not be recovered before it was driven off. Police are renewing their appeal for anyone who has information on its movements to contact the incident room at Enniskillen on (0801) 365 322 823."