Over the next two weekends, on podcast and on RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ Documentary On One tells the largely unknown and undocumented story of the first ever shipment of weapons from Libya to the Provisional IRA in a two part documentary titled First Consignment.
I first came across this story when during the summer of 2022, I visited Des Long to ask about the possibility of weapons being smuggled into Ireland in 1967, and whether the IRA had anything to do with this. Des Long was involved in the old Munster IRA like his father before him – and he subsequently became Director of Finance for the Provisional IRA in the early 1970s.
The reason for my visit to Des’ home in Limerick was to inquire for another documentary we were making about a woman named Mary Folen who had the most unfortunate story of having her coffin dropped twice from the skies (Mary had died in America, her remains flown home to Shannon before being transported by helicopter for burial on her native Inis Meáin, Oileán Árainn).
Continue reading @ RTÉ.
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