The father of missing Armagh man Mr Gareth O'Connor believes a "renegade" unit of the IRA abducted his son. Mr Mark O'Connor from Armagh city said his son was seized by individual IRA members because of a recent fight he had with one of the men.
While the IRA denied abducting 24-year-old Gareth O'Connor last Sunday, his father told The Irish Times yesterday "freelance" members of the IRA from Armagh were responsible for seizing him.
Mr O'Connor said he wanted Sinn Féin to assist in tracing the whereabouts of his son. Mr Gareth O'Connor, who has a partner and two small children, was last November charged in the Republic with membership of the "Real IRA", which he denies.
He went missing on Sunday as he was travelling to Dundalk to meet the terms of his bail conditions. Mr O'Connor explained that Gareth had to travel twice a day to Dundalk to sign his bail bond.
He said his son drove the same route twice a day and that IRA members would have know of his regular movements. He suspected that he was stopped near Newtownhamilton in south Armagh. "The IRA are the only people who would have been fit to stop his car," he added.
"I think this was done by a renegade IRA group operating in Armagh and was not sanctioned by the overall organisation," he said. "I know that Gareth was in a fight two weeks ago with one of these men, which he won, and that the bad blood stemmed from that incident."
Mr O'Connor said that all his family were very anxious about Gareth. "My worst fear is that he is dead and they just haven't discovered the body," he said.
The police warned Gareth O'Connor last Thursday that his life was in danger. Mr O'Connor snr said his family was not co-operating with the PSNI because of a dispute he had with certain officers.
This quarrel had nothing to do with politics or the "Real IRA" allegations against his son, he added.
Mgr Denis Faul also appealed for anyone with knowledge of where Mr O'Connor might be to assist in trying to locate him.
"He is four days missing now and my great concern is that he could end up as another of the disappeared," he added.
On Monday, the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, also appealed for information to help trace Mr O'Connor.