WHILE the name of the Belfast man convicted of raping two teenagers in Co Louth more then 20 years ago was widely known, it is only now that his identity can be published.
Seamus Marley (45) is originally from Ardoyne but has lived in Dublin for over a decade.
He comes from one of the most well-known republican families in north Belfast.
His father Laurence 'Larry' Marley was shot dead by the UVF in April 1987, the senior IRA man having been released from prison 18 months earlier after a 13-year jail term.
During his time behind bars he helped mastermind the 1983 escape from the Maze, during which 38 members of the IRA breached the gates of the Long Kesh site.
Read more: IRA safe-house child rapist is Seamus Marley - son of Maze escape mastermind Larry Marley
Despite organising the escape, Marley - who was nearing the end of his sentence - decided not to take part.
The break-out was a propaganda coup for the IRA and caused major embarrassment to the then Thatcher administration.
In 2017 the story of the escape was told in the film 'Maze', with actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor cast as Marley.
The funeral of the murdered IRA man was delayed for three days after the RUC formed a heavily-armed cordon around his Ardoyne home.
There was intense rioting in north and west Belfast and when the funeral did finally take place thousands of mourners followed the cortège to Milltown cemetery.
Seamus Marley is one of six children, with his brother Joseph a high-profile community worker who headed up a residents group in Ardoyne during a disputed parade in the area.
Read more: IRA safe-house child rapist is Seamus Marley - son of Maze escape mastermind Larry Marley
