‘I wanted to just be like everybody else … Our life was living a lie all of the time about who we were …’ Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland s1e4: Loose Talk Costs Lives
‘The Irish Republican Army this morning made its most audacious and potentially most devastating attack yet on the British government. Just after 3 a.m. this morning they attempted to assassinate the prime minister, members of her cabinet and other leading Tory politicians.’ ibid. BBC news
‘The bodies of the three IRA volunteers shot in Gibraltar were taken from their homes draped in the Irish Tricolour followed by a growing procession of mourners …’ ibid.
‘Michael Anthony Stone, a 32 year old Unemployed builder, appeared in a Belfast magistrates court this afternoon charged with the murders of three people.’ ibid.
‘It was something I had to do.’ ibid.
Rather than paying protection to Loyalist paramilitaries … [and] chairman of the Gaelic football club … Reason enough for them to kill him. Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland s1e5: Who Wants to Live Like That? son re father
‘People dying on the Shankhill Road … A bar had just been sprayed … ‘and shot dead seven people’ … ‘in between more people were killed … forgotten’ … ibid.
All we want is peace.’ ibid. protest rally lady
‘The IRA has announced a ceasefire that will start at midnight tonight.’ ibid. BBC news
In August 1994 the IRA called a ceasefire. Loyalist paramilitaries followed six weeks later. ibid. caption
April 1998: ‘An historic agreement for peace in Northern Ireland has been reached in the past few minutes …’ ibid. BBC news
‘The Struggle was my life.’ ibid. woman
The Rock of Gibraltar: the last outpost for the British empire … In 1987 British Intelligence learned that the Irish Republican Army, the IRA, was planning a terrorist attack on the parade. Its target – the band. Its weapon – Semtex explosives. Its method – a car bomb. Army spotters had observed an IRA woman mingling with the crowd on several occasions. By early 1988 the British authorities were ready and waiting. On March 6th a suspicious car had been parked. Mairead: The Life and Death of an IRA Martyr aka Death of a Terrorist, 1989
The three members of this active service unit were passing a gas station on Winston Churchill Avenue when the British made their move. ibid.
The last body to be driven away was that of the young woman called Mairead Farrell … The story of her life is the story of Northern Ireland’s twenty years of violence. And of the political and moral dilemmas posed to Britain. ibid.
In 1971 the Army began rounding up some 10,000 alleged Republicans. ibid.
So I wasn’t to tell Philip [O’Donnell] anything. I was told to take him in a taxi. I was to take him to a certain place to get him shot that night. I dropped him off. A Mother Brings Her Son to be Shot, TL 2017
The Good Friday Agreement led to the cessation of IRA violence but not all Republicans accepted it. They are known as dissident Republicans. Some have continued to bear arms with groups such as the Real IRA, Oglaigh na hEireann and RAAD. Membership is illegal. Locally, they are often known as The IRA or The RA. ibid.
I was investigating punishment shootings in Northern Ireland … how is something like resolved within a community and within a family. ibid.
A police officer encouraged them not to make a complaint. ibid. community mediator
They got lost something. I never realised how much drugs but mephedrone, cocaine … Diazepam, Valium … ibid. mother
The suicide rate in Northern Ireland has doubled since the Good Friday Agreement. More people have died by suicide than were killed during the Troubles over the same people of time. ibid.
[J Bower Bell, US TV interview]: The IRA is different. In that it’s the dream of all intellectuals … It’s a working-class movement. Darragh MacIntyre, The Secret Army, J Bowyer Bell, BBC 2024
In 1972 the IRA made an extraordinary decision: to make a documentary. Proclaiming this would be their year of victory, forcing the British out of Northern Ireland, they allowed the filming of IRA missions from start to finish … The whole endeavour made very little sense … This is the story of how the IRA were risking their inner secrets for a film which then strangely vanished for 50 years. ibid.
The making of this [original] film, The Secret Army, is a mystery. Its disappearance is even more peculiar. ibid.
‘This here the 303 is the standard weapon of the Republican Army.’ ibid. original documentary, man with gun
The man in the film is Des Long, but he was more than an arms instructor. ibid.
‘The fighting IRA was established here.’ ibid. Des Long’s barn
Operating from the Irish Republic, Des Long helped drive the IRA’s war to end British rule in Northern Ireland. ibid.
That is Martin McGuinness. Look. Though only 21, Martin McGuinness was the dominant IRA leader in the city. ibid. review of original documentary
She’s Geraldine Hughes. She’s 17 when she’s ordered to take part in this film … She died in 2006. ibid.
The bomb filmed by Bowyer Bell was part of a two-day blitz that left eight people dead. ibid.
The IRA only cooperated with Bowyer Bell. ibid.
Bowyer Bell conceded control to the IRA. He must have known his film’s integrity was shattered. ibid.
British Intelligence in London would have been able to watch every scene. ibid.
Walter Cronkite, CBS News, was supplied news clips by Bowyer Bell. ibid.
The rising toll of civilians was undermining the film’s betrayal of the IRA. ibid.
The IRA’s attempt to make the ultimate propaganda film failed. ibid.
Northern Ireland 1969: Northern Ireland was torn apart by what’s been known as The Troubles. A 30-year campaign by the IRA against the British state. The Heiress and the Heist I, comment, Amazon 2023
And that’s when Rose Dugdale became involved in some operations. ibid.
Rose Dugdale comes from a moneyed Anglo background, the last kind of person you would expect to get involved in radical politics in Ireland. ibid.
She was plotting her next crime: what was the largest art heist in the world … Then the story become the hunt. ibid.
Russborough House is a Palladian mansion in County Wicklow, near the village of Blessington … The house was filled with this remarkable collection of old masters. ibid.
The Great Art Robbery. ibid. Belfast Telegraph, Saturday 27th April 1974
This is 1974. There aren’t a lot of female radical wannabe terrorists out there. Rose Dugdale was an obvious suspect. The Heiress and the Heist II, comments
The idea of stealing masterpieces could only have come from Rose. ibid.
What happened after the heist? Had they thought that through properly. ibid.
Although the IRA themselves are not happy with them at all. ibid.
The car they used to transport the very valuable paintings breaks down. And they have to get a mechanic to look at it. You couldn’t make it up. ibid.
She believed passionately in certain things and was prepared to put her life and freedom on the line for them. The Heiress and the Heist III, comments
The English toff who became a fervent IRA recruit. ibid.
She was sentenced to nine years in prison. ibid.
1974: 21 were killed and 162 were injured when the IRA planted 2 bombs in 2 pubs and left without inadequate warning. British Gangsters: Faces of the Underworld s2e6: Die By the Sword, Amazon 2024