Diarmuid O'Neill
Encyclopedia
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London, England – 23 September 1996), was a volunteer
Volunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA). O'Neill was killed in London in 1996 during a police raid on the hotel where he and two other IRA volunteers were staying. Due to the circumstances surrounding the killing, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has called for a review of the police investigation into the killing of O'Neill. O'Neill was the only IRA member to be killed by police in Great Britain.
Background
O'Neill was born and raised in London, the youngest son of IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
parents, Eoghan and Theresa "Terry" O'Neill who were originally from County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
and County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
. O'Neill, who had one sister, Siobhán, and one brother, Shane, was a former pupil of the London Oratory School
London Oratory School
The London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
, a prestigious Roman Catholic school in Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, London, he was remembered as cheerful, well-behaved and outgoing. From an early age he took an interest in Irish culture
Culture of Ireland
This article is about the modern culture of Ireland and the Irish people. It includes customs and traditions, language, music, art, literature, folklore, cuisine and sport associated with Ireland and Irish people today. However, the culture of the people living in Ireland is not homogeneous...
and nationalism
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and spent much of he time between County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
and London. O'Neill was also deeply involved in supporting Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
and had visited the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
on several occasions along with his Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
born girlfriend, Karmele Ereno.
Soon after leaving school, O'Neill served nine months in a young offenders' institution
Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution
Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution is a type of British prison intended for offenders aged between 18 and 20, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders...
for his part in a £75,000 cash fraud from a Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
branch in Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, west London, where he worked. Some of the stolen cash was siphoned to the IRA.
Death
O'Neill was shot and killed by London Metropolitan Police's specialist firearms unit, SO19Specialist Firearms Command
Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command is a Central Operations branch within Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the rest of the service, which is normally unarmed...
, at Glenthorne Road, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London in September 1996, during a raid on suspected IRA weapons operations.
Surveillance operation
In the six weeks leading up to the shooting of O'Neill, the Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
of London had kept O'Neill and fellow IRA Volunteers, Brian McHugh and Patrick Kelly, under intensive police surveillance including bugging of O'Neill's room and video surveillance. Commander John Grieve
John Grieve (police officer)
Commander John G. D. Grieve CBE QPM is a retired police officer and university professor who is a member of the Independent Monitoring Commission that monitors the Northern Ireland peace process...
, who was Head of the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
The Anti-Terrorist Branch was a Specialist Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service, formed to respond to terrorist activities within the capital....
at the time, stated that the extent of that operation exceeded that of others carried out in Britain by far.
The surveillance operation resulted in extensive video footage that reportedly covered the whole six weeks except the night of the raid on the hotel itself. These surveillance tapes suggested O'Neill's unit was planning to detonate a large lorry bomb in central London, and that the IRA men were ready to shoot to kill if the police tried to raid them.
Hotel raid
At 4.30am, on 23 September, the Metropolitan Police conducted a raid on the hotel with the expressed intention of arresting all three. O'Neill was shot six times by a police officer who was only identified as "Officer Kilo". According to a report by Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, he was shot while trying to surrender and was then denied immediate medical care despite there being an ambulance at the scene. O'Neill later died in hospital. The results of the post-mortem examination carried out on the body of O'Neill showed a "patterned" bruise on his scalp
Scalp
The scalp is the anatomical area bordered by the face anteriorly and the neck to the sides and posteriorly.-Layers:It is usually described as having five layers, which can conveniently be remembered as a mnemonic:...
which, in the opinion of the pathologist for the British Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, may have resulted from "an individual treading on his head".
After the raid, media reports claimed that there had been armed violent resistance during the raid. However these stories were denied and withdrawn when it became clear that O'Neill was not carrying a weapon at the time of the shooting. According to CAIN, ten tonnes of home-made explosives, two pounds of Semtex
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...
, rifles and other bomb equipment were recovered at another location following the raid.
Criminal Investigation Bureau
The Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Metropolitan Police, supervised by the Police Complaints Authority, subsequently conducted an investigation into the incident. The investigation took almost two years and produced a report in 1999 which stated that there was not enough evidence to prosecute the police officers involved in the killing.Inquest
In February 2000, an inquest was held into O'Neill's death. The jury at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court took four hours to reach a majority verdict to rule that he was killed lawfully. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry, head of New Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, said: "The decision by the jury supports the actions by Officer Kilo and others who were faced with dangerous terrorists who were planning to bomb London and had access to explosives and firearms."O'Neill was buried at St. Mologas' Cemetery, Timoleague
Timoleague
Timoleague is a village in the eastern division of Carbery East in County Cork, Ireland, located along Ireland's southern coast near Courtmacsherry. It is about south of Bandon and from Cork on the R600 coastal road.-History:...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland.