Perhaps John Hume was also a member. It's just that the evidence to suggest either were IRA volunteers is pretty worthless.
Hume to the best of my knowledge never faced the accusation that he was in the IRA despite the immensely hard time he was given in conservative and unionist circles right across these islands for allegedly cavorting with the IRA when his culpability amounted to nothing more than trying to bring the IRA campaign to a close.
Remarkably, O'Callaghan never mentioned his supposed gem about an IRA meeting attended by Pat Finucane in his book, only putting it into the public domain much later. How likely is it that a book about the crown would omit the crown jewel? This led one journalist to claim:
Hume to the best of my knowledge never faced the accusation that he was in the IRA despite the immensely hard time he was given in conservative and unionist circles right across these islands for allegedly cavorting with the IRA when his culpability amounted to nothing more than trying to bring the IRA campaign to a close.
Conversely, Pat Finucane whose 1989 'murder by proxy' became one of the most controversial killings of the North's politically violent conflict, has faced the allegation that he was an IRA member. The singular source for that charge is the late Sean O'Callaghan, author of the book The Informer. The most Jack Hermon - the RUC chief constable at the time his special branch officers colluded in the Finucane assassination - could conjure up was that the slain solicitor was associated with the IRA because he allegedly ferried comms between IRA prisoners and their outside leadership. Yet the Cory Report found that "there is nothing in the RUC files which indicates that Patrick Finucane was a member of PIRA, the IRA or the INLA." That invites the reasonable suspicion that Hermon pulled that particular slur out of his jacksie to deflect attention away from what happened on his watch, much as he had sought to dissuade John Stalker for similar reasons.
In recent weeks the British Colonial Secretary for the North, Hilary Benn, announced a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Pat Finucane. This was something long blocked by the Tory government.
While welcomed by nationalists, there predictably has been pushback from some quarters. Ruth Dudley Edwards cites Sean O'Callaghan:
Pat Finucane was first and foremost an IRA volunteer, and he exploited his position ruthlessly to wage his war on the state.
This is standard fare from Ruth Dudley Edwards who, despite being an accomplished historian and researcher, tends towards evidence-aversion when it comes to evaluating the failings of both the IRA and the British state. Perhaps, the quizzical eyebrow is pushed up even further by the supposition from Shane Paul O'Doherty that it is inconceivable that Pat Finucane would not have taken an oath of allegiance to the IRA. This is premised on O'Doherty accepting at face value Sean O'Callaghan's claim to have been at an IRA meeting attended by Pat Finucane.
Whatever people might think of O 'Doherty's perspective on the Provisional IRA campaign, his arguments are not mere polemics. Usually forensically constructed and coherently presented, he has sought to provide a measure of credible substantiation for whatever claim he seeks to make. On this occasion, however, he has relied on the word of Sean O'Callaghan and to a lesser extent the seriously discredited Vincent McKenna. He brings nothing new of substance to the discussion.
Not for a minute do I question the right of either O'Doherty or Dudley Edwards to criticise the IRA. O'Doherty is hardly spoofing when he claims the IRA throws 'lies about like confetti.'
The problem rests in the confetti somehow being invisible when thrown about by Sean O'Callaghan.
A decade ago Alfie Gallagher eviscerated O'Callaghan's false status as a reliable source.
During Thomas 'Slab' Murphy's libel trial in 1998, O'Callaghan was asked if he could name a single person to whom he had not told lies in the last ten years. He simply responded, "No."
By posthumously branding the late Pat Finucane a member of the IRA last week, he tried to mitigate the role played by his paymasters and protectors in the murder of the Belfast solicitor.
As a review of a book on the IRA to feature on TPQ this week states, O'Callaghan:
lent himself to being a tabloid propagandist against the Republican Movement as a desperate attempt to remain relevant to whomever was handling and paying him.
Shelf life as a spy over, both his news and use value pulling in seriously diminished returns, that he would look around for something to maintain his depleted status seems more plausible than he forgot to include the strongest news line he had in his autobiography.
Over the years, I have spoken to many former IRA people who sat at various levels within the organisation. I have heard many things. Not one person ever confirmed for me that Pat Finucane was a member of the IRA. A week ago, I asked a former senior volunteer if he was aware of any connection. He said he had never heard of it before, adding:
why would we want somebody of Pat Finucane's standing in the IRA? Best to keep people like him out of it and let them do what they are doing.
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Didn't even the RUC deny he was a Provo?
ReplyDeleteRonnie Flanagan did
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