[2] As a teenager, McKeown had ambitions of becoming an architect and started working in the offices of a quantity surveyor when aged 15.
"[3] In August 1976, McKeown was arrested and charged with causing a series of bomb explosions and the attempted murder of a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
[1][3] At his trial in April 1977, McKeown was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Maze Prison.
[7] Following the deaths of six other prisoners, McKeown's family authorised medical intervention to save his life on 6 September, the 70th day of his hunger strike.
Unless someone was coming in and saying “Right, you have your own clothes, you won’t do prison work, you have all your demands,” short of that we wouldn’t have entertained it.
[13] McKeown also works as a Development Officer for Coiste na nIarchimí, an umbrella organisation of republican ex-prisoners groups.
[14] McKeown and Brian Campbell co-wrote a film about the 1981 hunger strike called H3 which was directed by Les Blair, and premiered in cinemas on 28 September 2001.
It was inspired by the Voices From the Vault oral history project which recorded first-hand accounts of Garda Síochána and Royal Ulster Constabulary experiences during the Troubles.