Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Encyclopedia
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican
. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army
(IRA), former president of Sinn Féin
and former president of Republican Sinn Féin
.
that lived in a duplex home on Battery Road. His father, Matt Brady, was an IRA volunteer
and was severely wounded in an encounter with the Royal Irish Constabulary
, in 1919. His mother, May Caffrey, was a Cumann na mBan
volunteer, and graduate of University College Dublin
, class of 1922, with a degree in Commerce. His father died when he was ten, and was given a paramilitary funeral led by his former IRA colleagues. His mother, prominent as the Secretary for the County Longford Board of Health, lived until 1974. Ó Brádaigh was educated at St Mel's College, leaving in 1950, and University College Dublin, from where he graduated with a commerce degree (BComm) and certification in the teaching of the Irish language
, in 1954. That year he took a job teaching Irish at Roscommon Vocational School, in Roscommon
.
in 1950. While at university, in 1951, he joined the Irish Republican Army. In September 1951, he marched with the IRA at the unveiling of the Seán Russell
monument in Fairview park
, Dublin. A teacher by profession, he was also a Training Officer for the IRA. In 1954, he was appointed to the Military Council of the IRA, a subcommittee set up by the IRA Army Council
in 1950 to plan a military campaign against Royal Ulster Constabulary
barracks in Northern Ireland
.
On 13 August 1955, Ó Brádaigh led a ten-member IRA group in an arms raid on Hazebrouck Barracks, near Arborfield
, Berkshire
. It was a depot for the No 5 Radar Training Battalion of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
. It was the biggest IRA arms raid in Britain and netted 48,000 rounds of .303 ammunition, 38,000 9 mm rounds, 1,300 rounds for .380 weapons, and 1,300 .22 rounds. In addition, a selection of arms were seized, including 55 Sten
guns, two Bren
guns, two .303 rifles and one .38 pistol. Most if not all of the weapons were recovered in a relatively short period of time. A van, travelling too fast, was stopped by the police and IRA personnel were arrested. Careful police work led to weapons that had been transported in a second van and stored in London.
The IRA's IRA Border Campaign
, commenced on 12 December 1956. As an IRA General Headquarters Staff (GHQ) officer, Ó Brádaigh was responsible for training the Teeling Column
(one of the four armed units prepared for the Campaign) in the West of Ireland. During the Campaign, he served as second in command of the Teeling Column. On 30 December 1956, he partook in the Teeling Column attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary
barracks in Derrylin
, County Fermanagh
. RUC Constable John Scally was killed in the attack; Scally was the first fatality of the new IRA campaign. Ó Brádaigh, and others, were arrested across the border the day after the attack, in County Cavan
by the Garda Síochána
. Those arrested were tried and jailed for six months in Mountjoy Prison
for failing to account for their activities.
Although a prisoner, he was elected a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála
(TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 1957 Irish general election
, winning 5,506 votes (or a 14.10% share). Running on an abstentionist
ticket, Sinn Féin won 4 seats including Eighneachán Ó hAnnluain, John Joe McGirl
and John Joe Rice
. They refused to recognise the authority of Dáil Éireann
and stated they would only take a seat in an all-Ireland parliament -- if it had been possible for them to do so. Ó Brádaigh did not retain his seat at the 1961 Irish general election
, and his vote fell to 2,598 (or 7.61%).
Upon completing his prison sentence, he was immediately interned at the Curragh Military Prison
, along with other republicans. On 27 September 1958, Ó Brádaigh escaped from the camp along with Dáithí Ó Conaill
. While a football match was in progress, the pair cut through a wire fence and crept from the camp under a camouflage grass blanket and went "on the run". This was an official escape, authorised by the officer commanding of the IRA internees, Tomás Óg Mac Curtain. He was the first Sinn Féin TD on the run since the 1920s.
That October, Ó Brádaigh became the IRA's Chief of Staff, a position he held until May 1959, when an IRA Convention elected Sean Cronin as C/S; Ó Brádaigh became Cronin's adjutant general. Ó Brádaigh was arrested in November 1959, refused to answer questions, and was jailed under the Offences against the state act in Mountjoy. He was released from Mountjoy in May 1960 and, after Cronin was arrested, he again became C/S. Although he has always emphasised that it was a collective declaration, he was the primary author of the statement ending the IRA's Border Campaign
in 1962. At the IRA's 1962 Convention he indicated that he was not interested in continuing as Chief of Staff.
After his arrest in December 1956, he took a leave from teaching at Roscommon Vocational School. He was re-instated and began teaching again in autumn 1962, just after he was succeeded by Cathal Goulding
in the position of Chief of Staff of the IRA. He remained an active member of Sinn Féin and was also a member of the IRA Army Council throughout the decade.
In the 1966 United Kingdom general election
, he ran as an Independent Republican
candidate in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone
constituency, polling 10,370 votes, or 19.1% of the valid poll. He failed to be elected.
and Dáil Éireann
at Leinster House
in 1969/1970. On 11 January 1970, along with Seán Mac Stiofáin
, he led the walkout from the 1970 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (party convention) after the majority voted to end the policy of abstentionism (though the vote to change the Sinn Féin constitution failed as a two-thirds majority was required to do so, whereas the motion only achieved the support of a simple majority of delegates votes).
He was voted chairman of the Caretaker Executive of Provisional Sinn Féin. That October, he formally became president of the party. He held this position until 1983. It is also likely that he served on the Army Council
or the executive of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
until he was seriously injured in a car accident on 1 January 1984. Among those joining him in Provisional Sinn Féin was his brother, Seán Ó Bradaigh
, the first Director of Publicity for Provisional Sinn Féin. Sean O Bradaigh continued in this position for almost a decade, when he was succeeded by Danny Morrison, who had been editor of An Phoblacht/Republican News. Sean O Bradaigh was the first editor of the paper.
In his presidential address to the 1971 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Ó Brádaigh said that the first step to achieving a United Ireland
was to make Northern Ireland ungovernable.
On 31 May 1972 he was arrested under the Offences Against the State Act and immediately commenced a hunger strike
. A fortnight later the charges against him were dropped and he was released.
With Dáithí Ó Conaill
he developed the Éire Nua
policy, which was launched on 28 June 1972. The policy called for a federal
Ireland.
On 3 December 1972, he appeared on the London Weekend Television
Weekend World
programme. He was arrested by the Gardaí again on 29 December 1972 and charged in the newly established Special Criminal Court
with Provisional IRA membership. In January, 1973 he was the first person convicted under the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1972 and was sentenced to six months in the Curragh Military Prison.
In 1974, he testified in person before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the treatment of IRA prisoners in Ireland. He also had a meeting with prominent Irish-American congressman Tip O'Neill
. The same year, the State Department revoked his multiple entry visa
and have since refused to allow Ó Brádaigh to enter the country. 1975 Federal Bureau of Investigation
documents describe Ó Brádaigh as a "national security threat" and a "dedicated revolutionary undeterred by threat or personal risk" and show that the visa ban was requested by the British Foreign Office and supported by the Dublin government. In 1997, Canadian
authorities refused to allow him board a charter flight to Toronto
at Shannon Airport
.
During the May 1974 Ulster Workers' Council strike, Ó Brádaigh stated that he would like to see "a phased withdrawal of British troops
over a number of years, in order to avoid a Congo
situation".
On 10 December 1974, he participated in the Feakle talks between the IRA Army Council and Sinn Féin leadership and the leaders of the Protestant churches in Ireland. Although the meeting was raided and broken up by the Gardaí, the Protestant churchmen passed on proposals from the IRA leadership to the British government. These proposals called on the British government to declare a commitment to withdraw, the election of an all-Ireland assembly to draft a new constitution and an amnesty for political prisoners.
The IRA subsequently called a "total and complete" ceasefire
intended to last from 22 December to 2 January 1975 to allow the British government to respond to proposals. British government officials also held talks with Ó Brádaigh in his position as president of Sinn Féin from late December to 17 January 1975.
On 10 February 1975, the IRA Army Council, which may have included Ó Brádaigh, unanimously endorsed an open-ended cessation of IRA "hostilities against Crown forces", which became known as the 1975 truce. The IRA Chief of Staff at the time was Seamus Twomey, of Belfast. Another member of the Council at this time was probably Billy McKee, of Belfast. Daithi O'Connell, a prominent Southern Republican, was also a member. It is reported in some quarters that the IRA leaders had mistakenly believed they had persuaded the British Government to withdraw from Ireland and the protracted negotiations between themselves and British officials were the preamble to a public declaration of intent to withdraw. In fact, as British government papers now show, the British entertained talks with the IRA in the hope that this would fragment the movement further, and scored several intelligence coups during the talks. It is argued by some that by the time the truce collapsed in late 1975 the Provisional IRA had been severely weakened. This bad faith embittered many in the republican movement, and another ceasefire was not to happen until 1994. In 2005, Ó Brádaigh donated, to the James Hardiman Library of University College, Galway, notes that he had taken during secret meetings in 1975-76 with British representatives. These notes confirm that the British representatives were offering a British withdrawal as a realistic outcome of the meetings. The Republican representatives -- Ó Brádaigh, Billy McKee
and one other -- felt a responsibility to pursue the opportunity, but were also skeptical of British intentions.
In late December 1976, along with Joe Cahill
, he met two representatives of the Ulster Loyalist Central Coordinating Committee, John McKeague
and John McClure
, at the request of the latter body. Their purpose was to try to find a way to accommodate the ULCCC proposals for an independent Northern Ireland with the Sinn Féin's Éire Nua programme. It was agreed that if this could be done, a joint Loyalist
-Republican approach could then be made to request the British government to leave Ireland. Desmond Boal
QC
and Seán MacBride
SC
were requested and accepted to represent the loyalist and republican positions. For months they had meetings in various places including Paris
. The dialogue eventually collapsed when Conor Cruise O'Brien
, then Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
and vociferous opponent of the Provisional IRA, became aware of it and condemned it on RTÉ
Radio. As the loyalists had insisted on absolute secrecy, they felt unable to continue with the talks as a result.
In the aftermath of the 1975 Truce, the Ó Brádaigh/Ó Conaill leadership came under severe criticism from a younger generation of activists from Northern Ireland
, headed by Gerry Adams
, who became a vice-president of Sinn Féin in 1978. By the early 1980s, Ó Brádaigh's position as president of Sinn Féin was openly under challenge and the Éire Nua policy was targeted in an effort to oust him. The policy was rejected at the 1981 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis and finally removed from the Sinn Féin constitution at the 1982 Ard Fheis. At the following year's ard fheis, Ó Brádaigh and Ó Conaill resigned from their leadership positions, voicing opposition to the dropping of the Éire Nua policy by the party.
, but not the British House of Commons
or the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont, thus ending the self-imposed ban on Sinn Féin elected representatives from taking seats at Leinster House
. Ó Brádaigh and several supporters walked out and immediately set up Republican Sinn Féin
(RSF); more than 100 people assembled at Dublin's West County Hotel and formed the new organization. As an ordinary member, he had earlier spoken out against the motion (resolution 162) in an impassioned speech. The Continuity IRA became publicly known in 1996. Republican Sinn Féin's relationship with the Continuity IRA is similar to the relationship between Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA when Ó Brádaigh was Sinn Féin's President.
Ó Brádaigh believes RSF to be the sole legitimate continuation of the pre-1986 Sinn Féin, arguing that RSF has kept the original Sinn Féin constitution. RSF readopted and enhanced Ó Brádaigh's Éire Nua policy. His party has had electoral success in local elections only, and few at that, although they currently have one elected Councillor in Connemara, Co. Galway.
He remains a vociferous opponent of the Good Friday Agreement, viewing it as a programme to copperfasten Irish partition
and entrench sectarian divisions in the north. He has condemned his erstwhile comrades in Provisional Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA for decommissioning
weapons while British troops remain in the country. In his opinion, "the Provo sell-out is the worst yet - unprecedented in Irish history
". He has condemned the Provisional IRA's decision to seal off a number of its arms dumps as "an overt act of treachery
",
"treachery punishable by death" under IRA General Army Order Number 11.
In July 2005, he handed over a portion of his personal political papers detailing discussions between Irish Republican leaders and representatives of the British Government during 1974/1975 to the James Hardiman
Library, National University of Ireland, Galway
.
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
(IRA), former president of Sinn Féin
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...
and former president of Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
.
Early life
Ó Brádaigh, born Peter Roger Casement Brady, was born into a middle-class republican family in LongfordLongford
Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 7,622 according to the 2006 census. Approximately one third of the county's population resides in the town. Longford town is also the biggest town in the county...
that lived in a duplex home on Battery Road. His father, Matt Brady, was an IRA 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...
and was severely wounded in an encounter with the Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
, in 1919. His mother, May Caffrey, was a Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers...
volunteer, and graduate of University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, class of 1922, with a degree in Commerce. His father died when he was ten, and was given a paramilitary funeral led by his former IRA colleagues. His mother, prominent as the Secretary for the County Longford Board of Health, lived until 1974. Ó Brádaigh was educated at St Mel's College, leaving in 1950, and University College Dublin, from where he graduated with a commerce degree (BComm) and certification in the teaching of the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, in 1954. That year he took a job teaching Irish at Roscommon Vocational School, in Roscommon
Roscommon
Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...
.
Joins Sinn Féin and IRA
He joined Sinn FéinSinn 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...
in 1950. While at university, in 1951, he joined the Irish Republican Army. In September 1951, he marched with the IRA at the unveiling of the Seán Russell
Seán Russell
Seán Russell was an Irish republican who held senior positions in the IRA until the end of the Irish War of Independence...
monument in Fairview park
Fairview Park, Dublin
Fairview Park is an urban park to the north of central Dublin, Ireland, in the district of Fairview. The park is noted for its seasonal bedding displays but also has playing fields, a childrens playground and tree-lined walks...
, Dublin. A teacher by profession, he was also a Training Officer for the IRA. In 1954, he was appointed to the Military Council of the IRA, a subcommittee set up by the IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
in 1950 to plan a military campaign against Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
barracks in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
On 13 August 1955, Ó Brádaigh led a ten-member IRA group in an arms raid on Hazebrouck Barracks, near Arborfield
Arborfield
Arborfield is a village in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham, and about west of the sister village of Arborfield Cross The village is on the A327 road linking Reading...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. It was a depot for the No 5 Radar Training Battalion of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...
. It was the biggest IRA arms raid in Britain and netted 48,000 rounds of .303 ammunition, 38,000 9 mm rounds, 1,300 rounds for .380 weapons, and 1,300 .22 rounds. In addition, a selection of arms were seized, including 55 Sten
Sten
The STEN was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War...
guns, two Bren
Bren
The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...
guns, two .303 rifles and one .38 pistol. Most if not all of the weapons were recovered in a relatively short period of time. A van, travelling too fast, was stopped by the police and IRA personnel were arrested. Careful police work led to weapons that had been transported in a second van and stored in London.
The IRA's IRA Border Campaign
Border Campaign (IRA)
The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
, commenced on 12 December 1956. As an IRA General Headquarters Staff (GHQ) officer, Ó Brádaigh was responsible for training the Teeling Column
Teeling Column
The Teeling Column was one of the four armed units devised by Seán Cronin for the Border Campaign in the west of Ulster.On 30 December 1956, the Column's inaugural operation involved an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Derrylin, County Fermanagh. The object was to obtain the...
(one of the four armed units prepared for the Campaign) in the West of Ireland. During the Campaign, he served as second in command of the Teeling Column. On 30 December 1956, he partook in the Teeling Column attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
barracks in Derrylin
Derrylin
Derrylin is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the A509 road between Enniskillen and the border with County Cavan . It had a population of 423 in the 2001 Census.-History:...
, County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
. RUC Constable John Scally was killed in the attack; Scally was the first fatality of the new IRA campaign. Ó Brádaigh, and others, were arrested across the border the day after the attack, in County Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...
by the Garda Síochána
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 :...
. Those arrested were tried and jailed for six months in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
for failing to account for their activities.
Although a prisoner, he was elected a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
(TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 1957 Irish general election
Irish general election, 1957
The Irish general election of 1957 was held on 5 March 1957, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 4 February. The newly elected members of the 16th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 20 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place...
, winning 5,506 votes (or a 14.10% share). Running on an abstentionist
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
ticket, Sinn Féin won 4 seats including Eighneachán Ó hAnnluain, John Joe McGirl
John Joe McGirl
John Joe McGirl was an Irish republican, an elected TD and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army.Born and raised in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, McGirl became involved with the IRA in the 1930s...
and John Joe Rice
John Joe Rice
John Joe Rice was an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was first elected as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála at the 1957 general election for the Kerry South constituency. He did not take his seat in the Dáil as Sinn Féin ran on an abstentionist ticket...
. They refused to recognise the authority of 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...
and stated they would only take a seat in an all-Ireland parliament -- if it had been possible for them to do so. Ó Brádaigh did not retain his seat at the 1961 Irish general election
Irish general election, 1961
The Irish general election of 1961 was held on 4 October 1961, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 8 September. The newly elected members of the 17th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 11 October when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took...
, and his vote fell to 2,598 (or 7.61%).
Upon completing his prison sentence, he was immediately interned at the Curragh Military Prison
Curragh
The Curragh is a flat open plain of almost 5,000 acres of common land in County Kildare, Ireland, between Newbridge and Kildare. This area is well-known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the famous Japanese Gardens. Also...
, along with other republicans. On 27 September 1958, Ó Brádaigh escaped from the camp along with Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
. While a football match was in progress, the pair cut through a wire fence and crept from the camp under a camouflage grass blanket and went "on the run". This was an official escape, authorised by the officer commanding of the IRA internees, Tomás Óg Mac Curtain. He was the first Sinn Féin TD on the run since the 1920s.
That October, Ó Brádaigh became the IRA's Chief of Staff, a position he held until May 1959, when an IRA Convention elected Sean Cronin as C/S; Ó Brádaigh became Cronin's adjutant general. Ó Brádaigh was arrested in November 1959, refused to answer questions, and was jailed under the Offences against the state act in Mountjoy. He was released from Mountjoy in May 1960 and, after Cronin was arrested, he again became C/S. Although he has always emphasised that it was a collective declaration, he was the primary author of the statement ending the IRA's Border Campaign
Border Campaign (IRA)
The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
in 1962. At the IRA's 1962 Convention he indicated that he was not interested in continuing as Chief of Staff.
After his arrest in December 1956, he took a leave from teaching at Roscommon Vocational School. He was re-instated and began teaching again in autumn 1962, just after he was succeeded by Cathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...
in the position of Chief of Staff of the IRA. He remained an active member of Sinn Féin and was also a member of the IRA Army Council throughout the decade.
In the 1966 United Kingdom general election
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
, he ran as an Independent Republican
Independent Republican (Ireland)
Independent Republican was a political title frequently used by Irish republicans when contesting elections in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since the 1920s....
candidate in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a Parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons. The current MP for the constituency is Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin....
constituency, polling 10,370 votes, or 19.1% of the valid poll. He failed to be elected.
Leader of Sinn Féin
He opposed the decision of the IRA and Sinn Féin to drop abstentionism and to recognise Westminster, Stormont BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and 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...
at Leinster House
Leinster House
Leinster House is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its...
in 1969/1970. On 11 January 1970, along with Seán Mac Stiofáin
Seán Mac Stíofáin
Seán Mac Stíofáin was an Irish republican paramilitary activist born in London, who became associated with the republican movement in Ireland after serving in the Royal Air Force...
, he led the walkout from the 1970 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (party convention) after the majority voted to end the policy of abstentionism (though the vote to change the Sinn Féin constitution failed as a two-thirds majority was required to do so, whereas the motion only achieved the support of a simple majority of delegates votes).
He was voted chairman of the Caretaker Executive of Provisional Sinn Féin. That October, he formally became president of the party. He held this position until 1983. It is also likely that he served on the Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
or the executive of 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...
until he was seriously injured in a car accident on 1 January 1984. Among those joining him in Provisional Sinn Féin was his brother, Seán Ó Bradaigh
Seán Ó Brádaigh
Seán Ó Brádaigh , is an Irish republican activist.Like his brother, Ruairí, Seán joined Sinn Féin at an early age....
, the first Director of Publicity for Provisional Sinn Féin. Sean O Bradaigh continued in this position for almost a decade, when he was succeeded by Danny Morrison, who had been editor of An Phoblacht/Republican News. Sean O Bradaigh was the first editor of the paper.
In his presidential address to the 1971 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Ó Brádaigh said that the first step to achieving a United Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
was to make Northern Ireland ungovernable.
On 31 May 1972 he was arrested under the Offences Against the State Act and immediately commenced a 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...
. A fortnight later the charges against him were dropped and he was released.
With Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
he developed the Éire Nua
Éire Nua
Éire Nua, or "New Ireland", was a political strategy of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin during the 1970s and early 1980s. It was particularly associated with the Dublin based leadership group centred around Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill who were the authors of the policy...
policy, which was launched on 28 June 1972. The policy called for a federal
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
Ireland.
On 3 December 1972, he appeared on the London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
Weekend World
Weekend World
Weekend World is a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television and broadcast from 1972 to 1988.Created by John Birt not long after he moved to LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at lunchtimes on Sundays...
programme. He was arrested by the Gardaí again on 29 December 1972 and charged in the newly established Special Criminal Court
Special Criminal Court
The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and organized crime cases. Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with wide-ranging powers when "the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure...
with Provisional IRA membership. In January, 1973 he was the first person convicted under the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1972 and was sentenced to six months in the Curragh Military Prison.
In 1974, he testified in person before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the treatment of IRA prisoners in Ireland. He also had a meeting with prominent Irish-American congressman Tip O'Neill
Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. was an American politician. O'Neill was an outspoken liberal Democrat and influential member of the U.S. Congress, serving in the House of Representatives for 34 years and representing two congressional districts in Massachusetts...
. The same year, the State Department revoked his multiple entry visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
and have since refused to allow Ó Brádaigh to enter the country. 1975 Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
documents describe Ó Brádaigh as a "national security threat" and a "dedicated revolutionary undeterred by threat or personal risk" and show that the visa ban was requested by the British Foreign Office and supported by the Dublin government. In 1997, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
authorities refused to allow him board a charter flight to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
at Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
.
During the May 1974 Ulster Workers' Council strike, Ó Brádaigh stated that he would like to see "a phased withdrawal of British troops
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
over a number of years, in order to avoid a Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
situation".
The IRA subsequently called a "total and complete" ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
intended to last from 22 December to 2 January 1975 to allow the British government to respond to proposals. British government officials also held talks with Ó Brádaigh in his position as president of Sinn Féin from late December to 17 January 1975.
On 10 February 1975, the IRA Army Council, which may have included Ó Brádaigh, unanimously endorsed an open-ended cessation of IRA "hostilities against Crown forces", which became known as the 1975 truce. The IRA Chief of Staff at the time was Seamus Twomey, of Belfast. Another member of the Council at this time was probably Billy McKee, of Belfast. Daithi O'Connell, a prominent Southern Republican, was also a member. It is reported in some quarters that the IRA leaders had mistakenly believed they had persuaded the British Government to withdraw from Ireland and the protracted negotiations between themselves and British officials were the preamble to a public declaration of intent to withdraw. In fact, as British government papers now show, the British entertained talks with the IRA in the hope that this would fragment the movement further, and scored several intelligence coups during the talks. It is argued by some that by the time the truce collapsed in late 1975 the Provisional IRA had been severely weakened. This bad faith embittered many in the republican movement, and another ceasefire was not to happen until 1994. In 2005, Ó Brádaigh donated, to the James Hardiman Library of University College, Galway, notes that he had taken during secret meetings in 1975-76 with British representatives. These notes confirm that the British representatives were offering a British withdrawal as a realistic outcome of the meetings. The Republican representatives -- Ó Brádaigh, Billy McKee
Billy McKee
Billy McKee is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Early life:McKee was born in Belfast in the early 1920s, and joined the Irish Republican Army in 1939. During the Second World War, the IRA carried out a number of armed...
and one other -- felt a responsibility to pursue the opportunity, but were also skeptical of British intentions.
In late December 1976, along with Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .- Background :In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West Belfast, Ireland, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly.Cahill...
, he met two representatives of the Ulster Loyalist Central Coordinating Committee, John McKeague
John McKeague
John McKeague was a prominent Ulster loyalist who founded the paramilitary group the Red Hand Commando in 1972. Authors on the Troubles in Northern Ireland claim that McKeague, a homosexual, was a paedophile who abused young boys during the Kincora Boys' Home scandal and was a long-time agent of...
and John McClure
John McClure
John McClure sometimes called "Poker Jack", was a politician and judge in Arkansas during Reconstruction and was part of Powell Clayton's inner circle. A Republican carpetbagger from the North he came to Arkansas as a Lieutenant colonel of a black regiment. He was dismissed from the army for...
, at the request of the latter body. Their purpose was to try to find a way to accommodate the ULCCC proposals for an independent Northern Ireland with the Sinn Féin's Éire Nua programme. It was agreed that if this could be done, a joint Loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
-Republican approach could then be made to request the British government to leave Ireland. Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal is a former Unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
and Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
SC
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
were requested and accepted to represent the loyalist and republican positions. For months they had meetings in various places including Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The dialogue eventually collapsed when Conor Cruise O'Brien
Conor Cruise O'Brien
Conor Cruise O'Brien often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish politician, writer, historian and academic. Although his opinion on the role of Britain in Northern Ireland changed over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, he always acknowledge values of, as he saw, the two irreconcilable traditions...
, then Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Ireland)
The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was a senior post in the government of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland from 1924 to 1984, when the post and the department was abolished....
and vociferous opponent of the Provisional IRA, became aware of it and condemned it on RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
Radio. As the loyalists had insisted on absolute secrecy, they felt unable to continue with the talks as a result.
In the aftermath of the 1975 Truce, the Ó Brádaigh/Ó Conaill leadership came under severe criticism from a younger generation of activists from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, headed by Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
, who became a vice-president of Sinn Féin in 1978. By the early 1980s, Ó Brádaigh's position as president of Sinn Féin was openly under challenge and the Éire Nua policy was targeted in an effort to oust him. The policy was rejected at the 1981 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis and finally removed from the Sinn Féin constitution at the 1982 Ard Fheis. At the following year's ard fheis, Ó Brádaigh and Ó Conaill resigned from their leadership positions, voicing opposition to the dropping of the Éire Nua policy by the party.
Leader of Republican Sinn Féin
On 2 November 1986, the majority of delegates to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis voted to drop the policy of abstentionism if elected to Dáil ÉireannDáil 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...
, but not the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
or the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont, thus ending the self-imposed ban on Sinn Féin elected representatives from taking seats at Leinster House
Leinster House
Leinster House is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its...
. Ó Brádaigh and several supporters walked out and immediately set up Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
(RSF); more than 100 people assembled at Dublin's West County Hotel and formed the new organization. As an ordinary member, he had earlier spoken out against the motion (resolution 162) in an impassioned speech. The Continuity IRA became publicly known in 1996. Republican Sinn Féin's relationship with the Continuity IRA is similar to the relationship between Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA when Ó Brádaigh was Sinn Féin's President.
Ó Brádaigh believes RSF to be the sole legitimate continuation of the pre-1986 Sinn Féin, arguing that RSF has kept the original Sinn Féin constitution. RSF readopted and enhanced Ó Brádaigh's Éire Nua policy. His party has had electoral success in local elections only, and few at that, although they currently have one elected Councillor in Connemara, Co. Galway.
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
and entrench sectarian divisions in the north. He has condemned his erstwhile comrades in Provisional Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA for decommissioning
Decommissioning in Northern Ireland
Decommissioning in Northern Ireland was a process in the Belfast Agreement as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. Under the Belfast Agreement, all paramilitary groups fighting in The Troubles would decommission...
weapons while British troops remain in the country. In his opinion, "the Provo sell-out is the worst yet - unprecedented in Irish history
History of Ireland
The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...
". He has condemned the Provisional IRA's decision to seal off a number of its arms dumps as "an overt act of treachery
Treachery
Treachery is a statutory offence in Australia. There was also an unrelated statutory offence bearing that name in the United Kingdom, but it has been abolished. Both of these offences were derived from or inspired by the related offence of treason. The name treachery was chosen because it is a...
",
"treachery punishable by death" under IRA General Army Order Number 11.
In July 2005, he handed over a portion of his personal political papers detailing discussions between Irish Republican leaders and representatives of the British Government during 1974/1975 to the James Hardiman
James Hardiman
James Hardiman , also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway. The university library now bears his name...
Library, National University of Ireland, Galway
National University of Ireland, Galway
The National University of Ireland, Galway is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland...
.
Retirement
In September 2009, O Brádaigh announced his retirement as leader of Republican Sinn Féin. His successor is Des DaltonDes Dalton
Des Dalton is the president of Republican Sinn Féin . Previously a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, he joined RSF aged 18 and has been a member of the RSF Ard Comhairle for over a decade. Dalton ran in the Athy town council Elections in 2004 and 2009 in his home town of Athy, Co Kildare. In both...
Sources
- "Ruairí Ó Brádaigh's speech to the 1986 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis", CAIN Web Service.
- "Transcript of interview" SWR Interview with Ruairi O'Bradaigh
- "Transcript of interview" with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh on the question of the legitimacy of the Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , 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,...
and its institutions on RTÉ Radio 1'sRTÉ Radio 1RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
News at One programme, 3 March 2002
Writings
- Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, What is Irish Republicanism, Dec 1970
- Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Restore the means of production to the people, Dec 1970
- Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Our people, our future, Dublin 1973
- Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Dílseacht - The Story of Comdt General Tom Maguire and the Second (All-Ireland) Dáil, Dublin: Irish Freedom Press, 1997, ISBN 0951856790
Further reading
- Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, (Indiana University Press, 2006), ISBN 0253347084
Footnotes
- Saoirse, "50 Years Ago".
- "Profile of Rory Brady", Elections Ireland
- "Quoted" in Saoirse, September 1996 .
- "Quoted" in Militant International Review, No. 9, June 1974.
- "Quoted" in Saoirse, July 2005.