Colm Murphy, is a "seasoned terrorist" and gun-runner who has served jail sentences on both sides of the Atlantic for his role in Republican terrorism. Since his early 20s, Murphy worked for both the IRA and the INLA.
He was certainly no stranger to the Special Criminal Court. In 1972, he was sentenced to two years for firearms offences. Police questioning him about an assault discovered a loaded revolver in his car in Dundalk.
He was imprisoned at the Curragh military prison but was soon on the run after staging a breakout in October the same year.
He was recaptured in May 1973but after his release he again found himself before the a Dublin court.
He was again jailed in 1976, this time for three years for firearms offences and one year for membership of the IRA.
During the resulting spell in prison Murphy's ambitions grew and on his release he headed to America on a gun-running mission for the Irish National Liberation Army.
He was sentenced to five years in a US jail in 1983, when found guilty of attempting to buy M60 machine guns for shipment from the US back to Ireland. He was released early and returned to Ireland in December 1985.
On his return he set up home in Dundalk where he bought a pub, the Emerald bar, which became a popular Republican meeting spot.
He built up a large building firm, at one point employing 28 people who worked on major developments such as the International Financial Services Centre and Dublin City University.
The firm folded after his arrest for the conspiracy to cause the Omagh bomb.
He also bought 30 acres of land at Dublin Road in Drogheda, Co Louth, and showed his financial credentials when he was able to stump up £100,000 bail after being charged.
But his determination to use any means to satisfy his violent political aims never left him and he conspired with the Omagh bombers, lending them his own mobile phone and another he had borrowed from an unknowing employee.
The "clean" phones were used by the terrorists - one in the "bomb car" and another in the "scout car", officers believe.
Strong police intelligence led officers to raid Murphy's home on February 21st 1999and take away his mobile phone. By complex tracking techniques they were able to prove that the telephones travelled to Omagh and back on the day of the bombing.
They also linked his mobile phone to the Banbridge bombing the month before Omagh, which injured 35 people.
Today's conviction means that Murphy - described as a "seasoned terrorist" by the judge during part of the trial which was unreportable until today - could be an elderly man before he is released.
PA