Martin "Doco" Doherty 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), who was shot dead while attempting to prevent a bombing by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at a pub in Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Doherty was the first person to be killed in the Republic of Ireland by the UVF since 1975.

Background and IRA activity

Doherty was born on 11 July 1958 in the Finglas

Finglas

-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland...

 area of Dublin, into a family of five brothers and six sisters. He played soccer for a club in Dunsink

Dunsink

Dunsink is a townland near Finglas, north Dublin, Ireland.Dunsink has an important observatory, where William Rowan Hamilton and Hermann Brück were both directors. It is the oldest scientific institution in Ireland...

, in addition to Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

. He joined the IRA's Dublin Brigade following the death of ten Irish republican hunger strike

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

rs in the 1981 Irish hunger strike

1981 Irish hunger strike

The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...

. In 1982 Doherty was arrested and imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison

Portlaoise Prison

Portlaoise Prison is the Republic of Ireland's only high security prison. It is located in Portlaoise, County Laois. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison situated directly beside it....

 due to the actions of a Garda

Garda Síochána

, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

 informant

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...

, and was released in 1988. Following his release from prison Doherty began working as a labourer in the construction industry

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

. He also returned to active service in the IRA's armed campaign

Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997

From 1969 until 1997, the Provisional Irish Republican Army conducted an armed paramilitary campaign in Northern Ireland and England, aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland in order to create a united Ireland....

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Doherty was arrested on his second visit to England and charged with conspiring to cause explosions, before being released in January 1991 due to lack of evidence and returning home to the Republic of Ireland.

Death

On 21 May 1994 an event was organised by Sinn Féin's

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 Prisoner of War Department to raise funds for the families of IRA prisoners at the Widow Scallans pub in Dublin's Pearse Street

Pearse Street, Dublin

Pearse Street is one of the longest streets in Dublin and varies in use along its length. Its western end meets College Street near Townsend Street. Trinity College, Dublin forms its southern side here, with a Garda station to the north. As one proceeds east, Tara Street joins it along with a fire...

. Doherty was working as a doorman

Bouncer (doorman)

A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...

 at the pub, and became suspicious of two men attempting to enter the pub carrying a holdall

Holdall

In American English, a holdall, or gym bag is a large bag made of cloth or leather typically with a rectangular base and a zippered opening at the top...

 at 11 pm. Doherty challenged the men in order to prevent them entering the pub, was shot three times and died later in hospital. Another doorman, Paddy Burke, was seriously injured when he was shot in the throat through the door of the pub after he closed it to prevent the gunmen entering. The gunmen left the scene in a car driven by a third man, leaving behind the holdall which contained an 18 lb bomb. The bomb's detonator

Detonator

A detonator is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the latter two being the most common....

 exploded as people attended to Doherty and the other injured doorman, but the main explosives failed to ignite. The Gardaí stated a massacre had been avoided due to the bomb failing to explode properly.

The attempted bombing was the first in Dublin since the 1970s, and Doherty was the first person killed in the Republic of Ireland by the UVF since November 1975. The UVF issued a statement claiming responsibility for the shootings and attempted bombing, saying they had "struck at the very heart of the republican movement in its own back yard" and that "the UVF would warn the IRA and the Dublin government that the Ulster people will neither be coerced nor persuaded and will remain masters of their own destiny". Fred Cobain

Fred Cobain

Fred Cobain, MBE is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland and was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 until 2011.Cobain was first elected to Belfast City Council in 1985. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1990-1991...

 of the Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 remarked "It was only a matter of time before loyalists went south. Dublin is having an increasing say in the affairs of Northern Ireland. The way to reverse that trend is to indulge in the same tactics as the IRA and to attack targets in the South. This may be a sign of things to come".

Aftermath

The IRA issued a statement that Doherty had been a member of the organisation, saying that he "died heroically in the defence of others at Widow Scallans . . . his courage and quick thinking during the attack undoubtedly saved many lives". As Doherty's coffin was being removed from his home in Finglas a paramilitary display

Military funeral

A military funeral is a specially orchestrated funeral given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute,...

 took place, with a ten-strong IRA colour party dressed in leather jackets and berets saluting his coffin, which was draped in the Irish Tricolour with a beret and pair of black gloves placed on top. Doherty was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery

Glasnevin Cemetery

Glasnevin Cemetery , officially known as Prospect Cemetery, is the largest non-denominational cemetery in Ireland with an estimated 1.5 million burials...

, where Martin McGuinness

Martin McGuinness

James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....

 gave the oration, stating:

We have come to bury a brave republican Volunteer . . . As far as I am concerned he was a freedom fighter, a freedom seeker. He was trying to bring about a democratic Ireland. The opposition parties are nothing short of Quisling

Quisling

Quisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...

s and West Brits

West Briton

West Brit, an abbreviation of West British, is a pejorative term for an Irish person, usually from South Dublin, who is perceived by his or her countrymen as being too anglophilic in matters of culture or politics.-History:...

. They don't want to talk about the causes of the conflict. Sinn Féin is trying to get all the parties involved in a Peace Process. We will not be distracted from that process.

Photos of the paramilitary display at Doherty's funeral appeared in Irish newspapers causing John Bruton

John Bruton

John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...

, the leader of opposition party Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

, to criticise the government during a debate in Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

. Bruton called the display "appalling, provocative and dangerous for everybody living in this city", and demanded the government enforce the law, which resulted in the debate being adjourned for thirty minutes in "uproar". A spokesman for the Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 government stated that similar displays had occurred when Fine Gael were in power.

An inquest into Doherty's death in November 2004 returned a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown. In 2006 a Garda superintendent

Superintendent (police)

Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...

 stated the investigation into Doherty's death was ongoing, and that "We still have an unsolved murder and the file remains open. To date, no one has been made amenable". Doherty's family believe the Irish authorities are withholding key information about the case, and are demanding answers from the Irish government. Sinn Féin justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Aengus Ó Snodaigh is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South Central constituency since May 2002, and is party spokesperson for Housing, Justice, Equality and Human Rights, and International Affairs.-Early and private life:A Dubliner and Irish language...

 pledged to raise this issue with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, stating “Clearly the Irish government has very serious questions to answer about the ability of unionist death squads, led frequently by British agents, to attack and target Irish citizens with apparent impunity in this jurisdiction". Doherty is regarded as a martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

 by Irish republicans, with the Clonakilty

Clonakilty

Clonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town on the N71 national secondary road in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted...

 cumann

Cumann

A cumann is the lowest local unit or branch of a number of Irish political parties. The term cumann may also be used to describe a non-political association....

 of Sinn Féin and the Martin Doherty Republican Flute Band named after him. An annual commemoration march from the Dick McKee

Dick McKee

Richard “Dick” McKee was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army . He was also friend to some senior members in the republican movement, including Éamon de Valera, Austin Stack and Michael Collins...

memorial in Finglas village to nearby Glasnevin Cemetery takes place each year.