When the New IRA launches attacks, the security services in the North are quick to make arrests. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) organized the escape of 38 prisoners from Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, which took place on September 25, 1983. Heaney was handed a three-and-a half-year sentence, divided equally between custody and probation. Some of the members of the Real IRA and other groupings have refused to join forces and have continued to operate under their previous groupings. Two gunmen fled the scene on foot, according to an RUC spokesman. A painter by trade, he had been hiding out under an assumed name in Philadelphia for the past 44 years. The group then spent three days walking through fields to an IRA stronghold in South Armagh. At this point, the prisoners were then surprised by a prison officer who came out of the ladies' toilets. In April 2019, Saoradh held a rally on OConnell Street in Dublin. (LogOut/ Darren Mullen has a simple message for his Newry City players ahead of taking on Glenavon for the second time in seven days. Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group. He even asked one of the women present to dance with the stranger in the hope of finding out if he was armed. Disguised in Royal Mail uniforms, an IRA gang drove into the sorting office. No hits were claimed. It was very tight, and they had to lie down at all times, and couldnt even turn over without their shoulders hitting the floorboards. Explainer: The New IRA and their not-so-new belief in violent republicanism, political leaders and communities joining together in abhorrence. IRA and INLA members who were arrested viewed themselves as prisoners of war and that it was their duty to escape. And as it spilled onto the ground, McCormick shouted to the others: "He's got a gun!". The PSNI's head of serious crime, Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, described the sentences as "another significant milestone in our relentless efforts to protect communities and save lives by disrupting and frustrating the efforts of those involved in terrorist activities". The farm buildings often rented for 1,000 . This is a list of members of the Irish Republican Army. He was bleeding heavily at this point but ultimately survived the attack. Therefore they do not also need the same amount of staff as they would on a normal working day.". Marley was released in 1986 and was shot dead by the UVF less than a year later. The senior officer just said it was a mistake and then the person in the emergency room told him to stop messing about and to reset the alarm. As a cover story, Nairac claimed to be 'Danny McErlean'. There was an escape officer selected from each block, as well as intelligence officers who would try to learn as much about the layout of the prison as possible. Part of the site is now known as Balmoral Park which is an outdoor events venue. In 1998, after the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Fin brought with it a loyal band of PIRA people who they say have dropped the armalite firearms of The Troubles in favour of the ballot box and peace. Three of the others left Ireland shortly after the IRA death threat. 20 June 1981 - Neal Quinn (53), member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, shot by Provisional Irish Republican Army in Bridge Bar, Newry. The wings were then controlled in what was known as the circle, or the centre of the H. There was a 15-foot fence surrounding the entire prison and each H Block was surrounded by a 5.5-meter high concrete wall, with barbed wire at the top. The PSNI's head of serious crime, Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, described the sentences as "another significant milestone in our relentless efforts to protect communities and save lives by disrupting and frustrating the efforts of those involved in terrorist activities". As Nairac veered in an out of consciousness, McCormick shamefully tricked him into beginning his last confession by posing as a Catholic priest. This policy of internment without trial would continue until 1975. 11 March 1982 - Norman Hanna (28), ex-Ulster Defence Regiment member, shot by the Provisional Irish Republican Army outside the Department of the Environment office, Rathfriland Road, Newry. Joshua Allen is a talented MMA fighter. McCormick continued boxing and found work as a painter and when he married, he moved to Jonesborough in south Armagh. After the successful attack in Newry, the IRA carried out a further nine mortar attacks in 1985. Then my heart started and I thought I was gonna bust out of my chest." The Provisional IRA (PIRA) formed in the late 1960s, declaring a ceasefire in 1997 after Sinn Fin entered into Northern Ireland peace talks. He has nothing to lose.". Gerry Kelly approached Adams and pointed a gun through the bars at him and said: Dont f****** move. 15 April 1990 - Eoin Morley (23), a member of the, 27 March 1992 - Colleen McMurray (34), a member of the. Feb 24th 2023, 8:20 AM. They then hid out in an IRA weapons stash, which was a tiny crawl space between two floors. Now they just needed to figure out how to take control of it. McCormick told his IRA pals he suspected 'Danny' was an undercover soldier and he wanted to take him outside to give him a hiding. 23 October 1971 - Sean Ruddy (28), James McLaughlin (26) and Robert Anderson (26), all shot by the British Army, who believed they were robbing a bank. Today, he helps out at a visitor centre for tourists in south Armagh. Categories . . It was considered impenetrable. Some started shooting at the officers to hold them back to allow time for the rest to escape. In April 2022, following a Saoradh-organised event at a Derry cemetery, PSNI officers were attacked. Captain Nairac - a military intelligence officer based at Bessbrook Mill outside Newry - was shot by the IRA in a field close to the border. Friends say he endured a life of sleepless nights as result of his deep-seated shame over his role in the young soldier's execution. The cadets were expected to be in bed sleeping, but were instead eating breakfast when the bombs landed. When he was arrested by the Garda at a Dundalk farmhouse days later, Townson sang like a canary. Or somebody going to hospital. A 61-year-old alleged IRA man charged with the murder of a Newry postal worker 25 years ago is due to be sent to the Crown Court for trial in the new year. Read about our approach to external linking. The prisoners would talk about football to the guards, and make them tea. Maze Prison eventually closed its doors after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 and in the two years following the agreement, 428 prisoners were released. That was until September in 1983, when the IRA successfully pulled off the largest prison escape in British and Irish History. After months of preparation, the prisoners had amassed a huge amount of information. They used the cover of nationalist protest against the decision to force an Orange march down the Garvaghy Road to launch a wave of looting and theft in Newry. "If he'd stayed in Ireland he would have been out 30 years ago, but he fled to America and he lived with the consequences. He was riddled with guilt. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. Bad Blood is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear . 12 prisoners disguised as officers went into the tally lodge and started to arrest the other officers. Sheehy, who travelled from his home in Listowel, County Kerry, to receive instructions in bomb making, was handed a six-year sentence - half to be spent in custody and half on licence. Minutes later, Townson fired a bullet into Captain Nairac's skull. Seamus Morgan, 64, of Barcroft Park, Newry; Kevin John Paul Heaney, 47, of Blackstaff Mews, Springfield Road, Belfast; and Terence Marks, 60, of Parkhead Crescent, Newry, all pleaded guilty to belonging or professing to belong to a proscribed organisation. There is currently a significant sharing of information between the PSNI and garda for instance, on Wednesday night garda moved armed units into border crossing zones as the PSNI warned them the gunmen were suspected to be heading south. McCormick then marched Nairac across a border field where IRA man Liam Townson put a bullet in his head. A former Irish champion boxer, Terry McCormick was 34 when he forced Nairac from a south Armagh pub, suspecting he was a spy, Captain Nairac went on patrol dressed as an IRA man he even carried the IRAs favourite Thompson machine-gun and wore an Easter lily on his beret. Kellys role at this point was to stay with McLoughlin and make sure he didnt drive away in the lorry. He said he was an Official republican from Ardoyne in north Belfast and that he was working in the area. 6 October 1978 - Charles Henning (50), member of Ulster Defence Regiment, died four days after being shot by Provisional Irish Republican Army at a cattle mart, Patrick Street, Newry. Haida-direct - your specialist for high quality doll and bear supplies wordwide! 9 August 1972 - Colm Murtagh (18)a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, died in premature bomb explosion in a garage on Dublin Road, Newry. A painter by trade, he had been hiding out under an assumed name in Philadelphia for the past 44 years. There wasnt really a grenade, but seeing the prisoners with guns made this threat significantly more believable. The attack killed nine RUC officers and injured almost 40 others; the highest death toll ever suffered by the RUC. The New IRA was formed in 2012, and authorities believe it is politically affiliated with the Saoradh group, which was formed in 2016. There were also a number of failed attacks on Sinn Fin members.In a statement on Wednesday Newry Sinn Fin Councillor Davy Hyland said, ``Overnight there were a number of attacks on local members of Sinn Fin. Not all agreed. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. James Hennessey went on to say that the key weakness was in the main gate of the prison. British Prime Margaret Thatcher made a statement saying It is a very, very grave incident indeed. He walked outside followed by three men, including McCormick. Mason and Anthony Hopkins have portrayed IRA members alternately as heroic patriots, psychotic terrorists and tormented rebels. Others avoided the roads completely and kept to the countryside, crossing rivers and fields. But Nairac had been a boxing blue at Oxford University. Local people who intervened were beaten and in one case a gun was held to the head of a man who attempted to stop their anti-social behaviour.In two incidents on Monday and Tuesday of this week two members of Sinn Fin were shot in the legs. Inmate Brendan McFarlane recalls: The reason we chose a Sunday was because Sunday is a closed day. Patrick Brennan, convicted of social welfare fraud. 31 May 1981 - Michael O'Neill (34), a member of the British Army, killed by a booby trap bomb in an abandoned car, Drumalane Road, Newry. 15 May 1986 - Herbert McConville (61), ex-Ulster Defence Regiment member shot by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Kilmorey Street, Newry. Some headed towards the border to the Republic of Ireland and hoped to hide out across the border. Fergal Caraher - South Armagh Memorial Garden", Timeline of Official Irish Republican Army actions, Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, glaigh na hireann (Real IRA splinter group), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_members_of_the_Irish_Republican_Army&oldid=1124343283, Provisional Irish Republican Army members, Irish Republican Army (19191922) members, Irish Republican Army (19221969) members, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 November 2022, at 12:46. Here for You! The most important part of this break out attempt was the prison officers themselves. Rumours at the time suggested it has been put through a meat processing plant and fed to animals on a farm. and indemnify Journal Media in relation to such content and their ability to make such content, Newry man Terry McCormick passed away last week in his Pennsylvania bolthole. 28 February 1973 - Kevin Heatley (12), shot dead by the British Army as he sat on a wall chatting with friends, Main Avenue, Derrybeg, Newry. Jul 3, 2022; deadliest months in 2016 and 2017; Comments: why did alaric kill bill forbes; Patrick Joseph "Mooch" Blair, 65, of Lissara Heights, Warrenpoint, County Down; Liam Hannaway, 50, of White Rise, Dunmurry; John Sheehy, 36, of Erskine Street, Newry; and Colin Patrick Winters, 49, of Ardcarn Park, Newry, admitted belonging or professing to belong to a proscribed organisation, providing weapons and explosives training, conspiring to possess explosives, firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Nairac had left his pistol outside in his specially adapted Triumph Dolomite car. newry ira members. Other officers remained suspicious and were reluctant to let their guard down. He had been out drinking all day before receiving a request to collect a gun to shoot the badly beaten soldier. In November 1977, Townson - a 24-year-old IRA man - was convicted at Dublin's Special Criminal Court of Captain Nairac's murder. Irish Republicans refer to the escape as the Great Escape and it was a major morale boost for the IRA at the time. They were there for over 2 weeks. And before that he was a schoolboy and juvenile champion. Three prisoners had been captured while trying to escape and 35 had breached the perimeter of the prison. He said: "Working alongside our partners in MI5 we carried out a detailed and painstaking operation over a prolonged period of time to uncover the multitude of conspiracies that this group were planning. Eamon Collins, member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is beaten and stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant(s) in the early morning hours of January 27, 1999, in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.. Collins is born in 1954 in Camlough, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, the son of Brian Collins, a farmer, livestock trader, and cattle . an IRA member who had been recruited as an informer . Marks, who received instructions in the use of explosives for terrorist purposes, was told he would serve two years in jail followed by two years on licence. If anybody phones here you ask him what the problem is, you then take 30 seconds and whatever the problem is you go back to him and say look that's been sorted. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 10 November 1994 - Frank Kerr (54), civilian, shot during armed robbery at his workplace, a postal sorting office on Clanrye Street, Newry. Continuity IRA members jailed after MI5 surveillance operation 13 November 2020 Seven men caught in a covert MI5 operation against the Continuity IRA (CIRA) have been sentenced to a total of 33. 26 July 1986 - Karl Blackbourne (19), Peter Kilpatrick (27) and Charles Allen (37), all members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were shot and killed from close range by the Provisional Irish Republican Army while sitting in their stationary armoured patrol car at Market Street, Newry. A former Provisional IRA member from Drumintee, south Armagh, a man in his late 30s with a suspected long history of bomb-making and attacks on the security forces but with no serious. " (Morgan) is clearly someone intricately involved in this dangerous organisation. Near the red Triumph, a heavy blow from McCormick's fist floored Nairac. Of the 35 escapees, 15 were recaptured on the same day. They were prepared to do it, but they were trying to avoid it. 0. newry ira members. The court previously heard that Winters died in August. Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, pictured here in February 2017. As Townson was heading for a life sentence behind bars, his accomplice McCormick left Ireland for ever. The centre was then renamed to Her Majestys Prison Maze, as they were situated in the township of Maze, and in 1976, eight new blocks were added to the prison, known as H Blocks, as they were all shaped like the capital letter H. These would specifically house those convicted of scheduled terrorist offences. But he had not given up on escaping the Maze. The PSNI alleged then that it was an orchestrated attack by the New IRA. In seven statements, he named all those involved. 13 were kicked or beaten, four were stabbed and two were shot. Over the 5-year period that these strikes took place within the prison, 19 prison officers were killed on the outside. In November 1986, the IRA launched another attack on the RUC base in Newry, but the bombs fell short of their target and landed on residential houses. One of them hit Adams above the eye and knocked him unconscious. posts, comments and submissions available. 22 August 1972 - Joseph Fegan (28), Michael Gilleece (32), Craig Lawrence (33), John McCann (60), Patrick Murphy (45), Francis Quinn (28), all. On February 28, 1985, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launches a heavy mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at Corry Square in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. And a number of years ago, campaigners succeeded in having Captain Nairac's name added to a list of persons still missing as a result of the Troubles. unless otherwise stated. Stephen Fuller (d. 1984), a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence and fought with Anti-Treaty forces during the Irish Civil War (1922-23). By 4:18, it was all over. The border campaign (12 December 1956 - 26 February 1962) was a guerrilla warfare campaign (codenamed Operation Harvest) carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland. Elsewhere there had been rioting in Coalisland, Newry and Dungannon. , 300px wide He also concluded that the control room in the centre of the H block was not operational as it should have been. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Prisoners began calling the officers by their first names and trying to take the tension out of the relationship between prisoner and guard. There were loyalists arrested too but they were the minority and by 1975, there were 1,981 people in the Maze, with 107 of them being loyalists. The Continuity IRA is a dissident republican group which is opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland and has carried out a number of bombings and shootings. Please note that The Journal uses cookies to improve your experience and to provide Bobby Storey then entered the room with four prison officers. He was one of 187 republicans who received on-the-run letters to enable them to escape justice in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement. 37 prisoners were then loaded into the back of the food truck and Kelly climbed into the footwell beside the driver and kept a gun pointed at him. Maze Prison was seen by many as Europes most secure prison. The New IRA was formed in 2012 and is said to have about 500 supporters and fewer than 100 prepared to plan and carry out attacks, principally against the police. And according to Desmond McCreesh the bar owner, he ordered a pint of Smithwick's ale and 20 Major cigarettes. Over his career, he worked on many notable cases. Read about our approach to external linking. They were three gates away from the outside world at this stage. Another problem was that there was a metal bar door between the prisoners and Adams. The judge said that like Hannaway and Blair, Lynch had pleaded guilty to "serious and specified" offences but he did not believe he posed a danger to the public in the future and had now cut all ties with dissident republican activity. 29 April 1994 - Michael Brown (23), alleged informer, originally from. 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