east tyrone ira members

The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic male civilians inside a betting shop on the Ormeau Road, Belfast. Although logically it makes more sense for Sinn Fin to start an armed campaign, that is not going to happen no chance, he says. [54], In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley-Dungannon road with a 150 pounds (68kg) bomb, on the basis that they were supplying British forces,[55][48] while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. The level of IRA activity in the area did not show any real decline in the aftermath: in the two years before the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed seven people in East Tyrone and North Armagh, and eleven in the two years following the ambush. No casualties were reported. 10 February 1997: a horizontal mortar fired by an IRA unit hit an RUC armoured vehicle leaving a security base. Anybody who has ever fought in the Provisional IRA, as distinct to those who hid in the Provisional IRA, or joined after the ceasefires, will never live to see a united Ireland, Dissidents who backed Brexit with the objective of destabilising the UK are not going to wage an armed campaign, he says. The base was raked with gunfire and a JCB digger with a 200lb (91kg) bomb in its bucket was driven through the perimeter fence. [61], At least five members of the security forces were killed by the IRA in around this area during the same period. [60], From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone executed a total of eight mortar attacks against police and military facilities and were also responsible for at least 16 bombings and shootings. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident during its campaign. 7 September 1981: two RUC officers (Mark Evans and Stuart Montgomery) were killed when their patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine at Sessadonaghy, near. [11] Scottish-born journalist Kevin Toolis has written that from 1985 onward, the brigade led a five-year campaign that left 33 security facilities destroyed and nearly 100 seriously damaged. [53][54], Another IRA bomb attack against British troops, near Cappagh, during which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of Coalisland, on 12 and 17 May 1992. 11 August 1986: The East Tyrone Brigade destroyed the RUC base at, 23 November 1986: six British soldiers were wounded after the Brigade launched seven mortars at a British Army barracks in. Three of the four are convicted killers or have served time in relation to a killing. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. Taken: April 5th, 2017. There were a number of actions carried out by the IRA in the eastern part of Tyrone from 1996 up to the latest IRA ceasefire of July 1997: Risn McAliskey, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in Osnabrck, Germany, on 28 June 1996. On 17 January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. Five were bound over. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 10 February 1997: A horizontal mortar fired by an IRA unit hit an RUC armoured vehicle leaving a security base. As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade [1] was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". The support team sprayed the installations with a burst of gunfire, but the mortar overshot the compound, damaging an adjacent church. A second IRA rifle team fired at a British Army Lynx helicopter sending in reinforcements to the area over the surroundings of Fivemiletown. The unit, moving on two vehicles from the townland of Turnabarson, managed to snake into a heavy patrolled area to the firing point on Station Road and launched the shell by timer from a range of 70 yards (64m). [77], The commander in chief of the brigade,[78] Kevin MacKenna, was also appointed 'chief of staff' of the IRA in 1983. However, as their attack was underway, the IRA unit was ambushed by a Special Air Service (SAS) unit. Wheres the insurrectionary energy going to come from? Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, List of notable actions from 1971 until Loughgall, Operations against British security forces in east and south Tyrone, List of actions from 1996 until the 1997 IRA ceasefire, Individual members of the brigade were also involved in the. A 'senior security source' claimed that the IRA was responsible. The ambush that left Tyrone Volunteers Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Patrick Vincent, Sen O'Farrell and Peter . [22] The checkpoint was stormed using an improvised armoured truck and two British soldiers (James Houston and Michael Patterson) were killed in action. One RUC officer was injured. McKearney argues that cross-Border economics has operated in a beggar-thy-neighbour way: Newry has over the years benefited at the expense of Dundalk, and vice versa, depending on currency fluctuations. e The Troubles The Coagh Ambush was a controversial incident that took place on 3 June 1991, when a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit from the East Tyrone Brigade was ambushed by the Special Air Service (SAS) in the village of Coagh, County Tyrone. He recalls the EEC No signs that accompanied Brits Out graffiti around Monaghan when he was growing, up in the 1970s. The IRA responded by killing senior UVF man and former UDR member Leslie Dallas on 7 March 1989,[46][47] but the UVF shot dead three IRA members and a Catholic civilian in a pub in Cappagh on 3 March 1991. Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. The standout example is the SAS shooting of eight East Tyrone IRA members whilst the IRA attacked Loughgall RUC station in 1987. He would be the longest-serving volunteer in this position, right up to the 1997 ceasefire.[148]. There were four members of the Provisionals from East Tyrone searching my house, and they . [125][126] The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991 by shooting and killing a former UDR soldier leaving his workplace along Altmore Road, Cappagh. The British are sending a plausibly deniable mixed message. He would later serve as a member of Fianna Fil during the 1930s. The IRA Northern Command, however, approved a scaled down version of the strategy, aimed at hampering the repair and refurbishment of British security bases. Photograph: Simon Carswell Taken: March 31st, 2017. As well as RAAD, the alliance includes an east Tyrone group thought to be responsible for killing PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in 2011, . Elsewhere, the East Tyrone IRA lost eighteen members to SAS ambushes between 1987 and 1992. In January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. The genie is out of the bottle, so you are not going to put it back in again, and at this point in time we are in the uneasy calm before the potential storm. He thinks it would be silly of the British to build a hard Border again and potentially stir up those tensions. [28] On 16 September 1989, a British sergeant of the Royal Corps of Signals (Kevin Froggett) was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while he was repairing a radio mast at Coalisland Army/RUC base. Several people was evacuated, and the bomb disposal squad struggled 10 hours to defuse the device. 25 April 1987: an off duty British soldier (William Graham) was shot dead by the IRA at his family's farm, off Gortscraheen Road, near Pomeroy. Gerry McGeough, who is now a farmer, served time in German, US and Northern Irish prisons for paramilitary-related offences, including trying to buy Stinger surface-to-air missiles in 1983 with the aim of taking down British army helicopters. The cops and the security services have been so on top of the armed republican groups that have been operating in the wake of the Provisional IRA. Journalist Ian Bruce, instead, claims that an Irishman who served in the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources. [8] In April 1987 they shot and killed Harold Henry, one of the main contractors to the British Army and the RUC in Northern Ireland. His elder brother, a civilian contractor to the Ministry of Defence, had died in a South Armagh Brigade[64] mortar attack one year before, while working inside an Army base near Keady, County Armagh.[65]. 26 March 1997: a grenade was thrown by IRA volunteers at the British Army/RUC base in Coalisland. Dozens of residents were evacuated to a neighbouring church's hall. This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 19:23. [58] A major IRA attack in County Tyrone took place on 20 August 1988, barely a year after Loughall, which ended in the deaths of eight soldiers when a British Army bus was bombed at Curr Road, near $3. fechar. There is very, very little appetite among republican circles in the North for a resumption of any armed campaign. The device exploded while he was driving on Carrydarragh road, near Moneymore, County Londonderry, on 31 May 1993, just a few miles from Cookstown. [19] According to them, a second 264 pounds (120kg) device was defused in the follow-up operation. Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no known paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army members. GAA Central Council officialreply was that The GAA has strict protocols and rules in place regarding the use of property for Political purposes. The Association is committed to a shared future based on tolerance for the different identities and cultural backgrounds of people who share this Community and this island. [15], The SAS ambush had no noticeable long-term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone. The ambush took place outside the village of Pomeroy. [26], On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down a British Army Gazelle helicopter near Clogher by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. [35][36][37], On 24 March 1990, there was a gun battle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces in the main street of the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, in which IRA members fired at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. It is hugely insulting, Lynagh says as he picks nicotine gum from a wrapper. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a republican stronghold such as east Tyrone. Thus it was from there that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in east Tyrone in areas close to south Armagh, which offered good escape routes. [12] [13], In December 2011, the Historical Enquiries Team found that not only did the IRA team fire first but that they could not have been safely arrested. Five Sinn Fin cumainn, and 90% of the East Tyrone Brigade, left in the move. Transforming the Peace Process in Northern Ireland: From Terrorism to Democratic Policies, IRA The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity, The Provisional IRA in England: The Bombing Campaign 1973-1997, Loyal to the Core? The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade[1] was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". McIntyre sees the argument that unionists would be better off economically in a united Ireland within the EU than they would in a post-Brexit UK as a crass case of economic reductionism. Major Shaw died at the scene. We have been neglected, McKearney says, citing patchy broadband in parts of Co Monaghan as an example. [112] On 11 May 1993, British security forces found and defused a horizontal mortar complete with warhead in Dungannon. Next to the living-room window, with its panoramic views of the farmland and gorse-filled hedgerows of this part of the Border, is an imposing portrait that shows the tradition of agrarian agitation McGeough hails from. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Anthony McIntyre, an IRA man turned writer and historian who is another supporter of the peace process but critic of Sinn Fin, fails to see how a hard Brexit would fuel any new armed campaign, given that it was not the Border that brought the Provisional IRA into existence but the response in Belfast and Derry to the British armys behaviour when it came to the North. This is the only concern for this area: how can we pacify them and stop them engaging in any violent activity? There may be little bits here and there, or attempts here and there, but nothing significant.. Other attendees were. 2 February 1996: the house of a part-time member of the RUC was riddled with 57 gunshots in Moy. A Secret History of the IRA is written by Ed Moloney and published by Penguin Books. The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at Clonoe after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland. A third former republican paramilitary suggests that Ireland would be better off in an economic bloc with the UK rather than with the European Union. Gerry McGeough is a prominent republican and former member of the provisional IRA and now a farmer in Co. Tyrone. They see that threat as little more than a scare tactic to force the future of the 499km Border to the centre of the two-year Brexit negotiations. What have they achieved? 14 March 1972: A two-man IRA unit armed with sub-machine guns ambushed a joint British Army/RUC patrol on Brackaville Road outside Coalisland, County Tyrone. [29][30] On 24 March 1990, there was a gunbattle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, when IRA members fired at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. Almost immediately another part-time soldier chanced upon the scene and opened fire on the fleeing gunmen who managed to escape by forcing a passing car to stop and raced off. 8 July 1997: A landmine was planted by the IRA near Dungannon, where there was a bomb alert. 7 February 1976: Two Protestant teenagers, Rachel and Robert McLernon (aged 18 and 16, respectively), were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb, intended for members of the security forces, which had been hidden in an abandoned crashed car, Tyresson Road, 3 December 1977: RUC car ambushed by IRA gunmen firing automatic weapons at Clover Hill Bridge on Benburb Road near. You might have someone taking a potshot sometime, but if you are talking about a serious insurgency or a serious campaign, anything that remotely emulates the Provisional IRAs campaign, it is not going to happen. IRA veterans Brexit feature - pix Gerry McGeough Former Provisional IRA volunteer Gerry McGeough, who served time in prison for the attempted murder of a UDR man in 1981, on his farm near Dungannon, Co Tyrone. 26 February 1978: IRA Volunteer Paul Duffy was killed by the SAS in Coagh. [113] An IRA man was taken in custody in Newtownstewart, west Tyrone, on 10 July 1993, after being injured during a mishap while testing an improvised mortar in a barn near Dungannon. While Brexit raises uncertainty around how the UK manages trade across a frontier running through those former battlefields, McKearney and Lynagh believe that the climate and conditions the anti-Catholic discrimination and economic inequality that ignited the Troubles no longer exist. The UVF killed 40 people in East Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. 2 May 1974: Up to 40 members from the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade attacked the isolated 6 UDR Deanery base in Clogher, County Tyrone with machine gun and RPG fire resulting in the death of Private Eva Martin, a UDR Greenfinch, the first female UDR soldier to be killed by enemy action. [59], The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against an RUC station in Ballygawley. Policewoman shot as nationalist anger at Drumcree parade spreads across Northern Ireland", "British soldier shot dead Massive Strabane landmine", "South Armagh Brigade claims sniper attack", Cousin of bomb suspect was top Provo; But gun victim denies being a terrorist, "Militants Angry About Police's Defense Of Protestant March". Tommy's older brother Sean was killed in May 1974 when a bomb he was planting at a petrol station outside Dungannon exploded prematurely. He was arrested in 1988 for crossing the Dutch-German border with AK-47 rifles in the boot of his car and charged with attacks on British soldiers based in Germany. He voted for Brexit in the hope that it would lead to a united Ireland through the disintegration of the UK. In the aftermath of the bombing, on 9 May, a sergeant mayor of the 1st Battalion, the Staffordshire Regiment was shot and killed by a soldier of his company in a blue-on-blue incident at the same spot, while taking part of a security detail around the devastated base. Their brothers, Pdraig McKearney and Jim Lynagh, were among eight members of the IRAs east Tyrone brigade killed by the SAS during an attack on an RUC station in the Protestant village of Loughgall, in Co Tyrone, in May 1987. A former IRA leader in east Tyrone has disputed claims that loyalists and republicans reached an "understanding" after a secret meeting in the early 1990s. This is the story of the war in the fields, towns and villages of East Tyrone, as told by the people who fought it. [23] British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the attack on the military bus at Curr road. They dont throw away remarks like that.. It was the biggest single loss of life for the republican movement during the conflict. Instead Lynagh, McKearney and the other six IRA activists - Gerard O'Callaghan, 29, Tony Gormley, 25, Eugene Kelly, 25, Patrick Kelly, 30, Seamus Donnelly, 19, and Declan Arthurs, 21 - were shot. But somebody not being able to smuggle is not what revolutions are made out of. In the 1980s, the IRA in East Tyrone and other areas close to the border, such as South Armagh, were following a Maoist military theory[8] devised for Ireland by Jim Lynagh, a high-profile member of the IRA in East Tyrone (but a native of County Monaghan). IRA member Liam Ryan and local man . 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