Revolutionary in Ireland

406 Pages·1975·16.35 MB·English

by  Sean MacSTIOFIAN

twentieth century revolutionary leader- until
ifecently Chief of Staff of the Provisional Irish
i Republican Army. It is also a detailed account of
i the current ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland as seen ,
and experienced by one of the principal figures
involved in the tragedy. It is, again, a history of
the IRA and the Irish republican movement over a
quarter of a century.
Sean MacStiofain has been in the forefront of
IRA policy making - first as the organization’s
Chief of Intelligence and later as its Chief of Staff.
It was his responsibility to interpret British policy
and to formulate the strategy of his movement.
Many have regarded him as a terrorist; others
have seen him as a fanatic motivated solely by a
thirst for destruction. He, however, regards his
twenty-five years in the republican movement as
twenty-five years of hard work for the cause in
which he deeply believes.
Few revolutionary ieaders in this century have
recorded precise, detailed accounts of the mannel
in which their movements were organized and
policy decided. Fewer still have revealed how
operations were planned and their personal
relations with friends and enemies, with their
wives and children.
MacStiofain’s guerrilla activities have stemmed
from his own interpretation of Irish history and his
conviction that Northern Ireland is ’occupied’
territory. Here is his explanation of what he has
done and why he did it.
No reader can fail to learn from this controversial
book - whatever his or her own opinion of
’The Irish Question’. __
Sean MacStiofain, born in east London in 1928, T
joined the IRA in 1949. He had previously \
completed his national service in the Royai Air
Force, and had become increasingly involved in 1
Irish politics. Arrested during an IRA arms raid in 1
1952, he spent six years in Wormwood Scrubs 1
prison and, on his release, went to Ireland where
he dedicated himself to the republican movement.
He was eiected to the IRA leadership in 1964, and
played an important role until the Provisional
IRA broke away. He served as ’Chief of Staff’ of
the ’Proves’ until his arrest and imprisonment by
the Irish authorities in 1972. His hunger and thirst
strike while serving his sentence attracted
world-wide attention.
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Sean
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© Sean MacStiofain 1975
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without permission in writing from
the Publisher.
Set by Preface Ltd, Salisbury
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by R. & R. Clark, Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland
ISBN 0-86033-031-1
Contents
Foreword vii
1 In the Dock 1
2 Discoveries 15
3 Commitment 31
4 Wormwood Scrubs 55
5 The Prison Front 73
6 Homecoming 85
7 Chief of Intelligence 99
8 The North Erupts 115
9 The Provisionals 133
10 Facing the Storm 145
11 Stormont Totters 163
12 Time of Torture 179
13 The Tide Turns 205
14 Bloody Sunday and After 225
15 Soundings 253
16 Truce 271
17 Resumption 291
18 Undercover War 311
19 Arrest and Ordeal 337
Index 365
V
To revolutionaries everywhere,
especially to their womenfolk
who share all their hardships
VI
Foreword
A great deal has been written about me by journalists from all over
the world, most of whom have never met me, much less interviewed
me. A great deal written has been, to say the least, inaccurate and
uncomplimentary. Some of it has been just “black” propaganda or
character assassination by the British. More has been written in
ignorance by foreign journalists unable to check their facts. But the
result has been an image of me as a hard-hearted brute unconcerned
with loss of human life or the sufferings of the people, a kind of
moron obsessed with the use of violence, and a power-crazy maniac
determined to maintain his position at all costs.
Now, it is true that while in leadership I was firm and strong-
willed. But no revolutionary leader can be otherwise if his movement
is to make progress. As the world knows, the Provisional Republican
movement made fantastic progress from its humble beginning in
December 1969 until my arrest three years later. The loss of human
life has always grieved me. I was always conscious that every person
killed — combatant or not, and no matter who was responsible — was
somebody’s son or daughter, somebody’s husband or father or
mother or wife. Every person killed meant enormous suffering and
loss to a family on one side or another, and everything possible was
always done to avoid civilian casualties. No war can be fought
without casualties. The entire Republican movement, both rank and
file and leadership, did their utmost to confine casualties to com¬
batants. In spite of all the precautions civilians were accidentally
killed by the IRA, and we regretted each one of them. But these fatal
casualties were only a small proportion of the total civilian deaths.
And the British government, as the aggressor in Ireland, is morally
Vll
and inescapably responsible for all loss of life and bloodshed in this
Irish conflict as in previous ones.
As for my alleged power lust, it is a fact that I have always been
prepared to serve in any position in which I was needed. If at any
time during my period in leadership someone better qualified had
become available, I would have stepped down, and it would have
been my duty to do so.
Leading members of revolutionary movements have to be prepared
for character assassination just as much as for actual physical
assassination. Both weapons are parts of the stock-in-trade of
counter-revolutionary agencies. Character assassination was exten¬
sively used against me from 1971 to 1973, while the self-
acknowledged former British agent Kenneth Littlejohn has
repeatedly stated that he was instructed to kill me. But I have
survived to tell my story, my side of events, of how and why I joined
the Republican movement. I hope that in doing so I shall have
cleared up a lot of the fiction about myself.
I joined the Irish revolutionary movement at the age of twenty-
one. For twenty-four years I remained an active member, thinking,
working, organising from week to week, day in and day out. All my
spare time (and a good deal of my employers’ time) went into the
movement. It was in fact my entire life. I joined this movement
through conviction, the conviction that the only way to free the
country I love so much, and the people I admire so much, was by
force of arms. I remained in the movement for twenty-four years, the
best years of my life, because I never lost that conviction or the sense
of purpose which every dedicated revolutionary must have if he or
she is to face up to the long, uphill struggle.
I still believe that revolutionary violence is the only way for an
oppressed people to win their freedom Great nations as well as small
ones owe their existence to it. Who thinks that the people of
Mozambique or Angola could overthrow the Portuguese colonial
system by debate? Or that the blacks of Rhodesia will defeat Ian
Smith’s racialists by constitutional means? For these and for all such
imprisoned, exploited peoples, there is no reliable route to freedom
other than the armed struggle.
But in advocating it, I am not motivated by either sectarian or
racialist views. I believe that the English people themselves will one
day have to use violence to overthrow the system that has brought so
much suffering to so many for so long. It is evident that the
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