[5] From the start, there was intermittent feuding between McKee's men and his former comrades in the Official IRA, as they vied for control of nationalist areas.

However, the Provisionals rapidly gained the upper hand, due to their projection of themselves as the most reliable defenders of the Catholic community.

Rioting broke out in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast after an Orange Order parade, and three Protestants were killed in gun battles between the Provisional IRA and loyalists.

In response, loyalists prepared to attack the vulnerable Catholic enclave of Short Strand in east Belfast.

[13] On 15 April 1971 McKee, along with Proinsias Mac Airt, was arrested by the British Army when found in possession of a hand gun.

[14] He was charged and convicted for possession of the weapon and imprisoned in Crumlin Road Prison, and Joe Cahill took over as OC of the Belfast Brigade.

At this time the Provisional IRA called a ceasefire and McKee was involved, with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh in secret peace talks in Derry with the Northern Ireland Office.

[18] He was also involved in talks with Protestant clergy in Feakle, County Clare in December 1974, where he voiced his desire to end the violence.

[20] A faction led by Adams managed to get McKee voted off the IRA Army Council in 1977, effectively forcing him out of the leadership of the organisation.

"[21] In later years McKee, Brendan Hughes and Tommy McKearney were critical of the Belfast Agreement and of the reformist politics of Sinn Féin.

[22] In 2016 he sent a message of support to the launch of the hardline new Republican party Saoradh, reportedly the political wing of the New IRA.