Gleeful write-ups described: ‘High Life for IRA Bomber’, The Times, 28 August 1988.
‘It is a sensitive matter’: ‘IRA Bomber Avoids Royal Theatre Date’, Telegraph, 3 February 1987.
Rea would later remark: ‘Price Husband’s TV Role’, Evening Herald, 18 March 1986.
‘The people in my profession’: ‘Stephen Rea: “I Never Wanted to be a Polite Actor”’, Telegraph, 25 March 2016.
Nevertheless, he was obliged: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
Never, ever mention the missus: ‘Even Better Than the Rea Thing’, Irish Independent, 18 February 2000.
‘What I bring is an understanding’: ‘Patriot Games’, People, 8 February 1993.
On the rare occasion: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
‘I could never be a soldier’: ‘History Boys on the Rampage’, Arena (BBC, 1988).
She canvassed for a Sinn Féin candidate: Jonathan Duke-Evans to Tim Flesher, 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
Adams trimmed his hair: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.188.
‘Vote Gerry Adams!’: Dolours Price, ‘Get On with It’, The Blanket, 14 September 2004.
Chapter 18: The Bloody Envelope
On 6 March, Mairéad Farrell was shot: In 1995, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the soldiers had not been operating under a ‘shoot to kill’ policy, but that the three IRA members did not pose the sort of immediate risk that would have necessitated shooting them and that they could have been arrested instead. For more on Farrell’s life and death, see ‘Death of a Terrorist’, Frontline (PBS, 1989); ‘Priest, Writing Eulogy, Recalls Woman in IRA’, New York Times, 16 March 1988; McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, pp.1112–15.
But before they had a chance to carry out: See McCann and Others v. The United Kingdom, application no. 18984/91, European Court of Human Rights (1995).
He had grown up in Tipperary: Martin McKeever, One Man, One God: The Peace Ministry of Fr Alec Reid C.Ss.R. (Dublin: Redemptorist Communications, 2017), p.1.
Reid moved to Belfast before: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.17.
The founder of the monastery: John Conroy, Belfast Diary: War As a Way of Life (Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, 1995), pp.1–2.
a priest ‘on the streets’: ‘Priest Tried to Revive Dying British Soldier’, South China Morning Post, 22 March 1988.
‘In for a penny, in for a pound’: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.21.
Reid possessed an unerring faith: ‘14 Days’, documentary (BBC, 2013).
Adams, who lived near Clonard, had grown up: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.33.
‘Behind the Scenes’: H-BC.
clutching a cigarette: ‘14 Days’.
He had no particular party: Ibid.
‘You meet God in the midst of the Troubles’: Ibid.
Evidently, the authorities: Archival footage of the funeral.
Having been elected to Westminster: ‘Belfast Candidate Wins Parliament Seat for IRA’, Reuters, 11 June 1983.
Reaching into his jacket: ‘3 Killed by Grenades at IRA Funeral’, New York Times, 17 March 1988.
Reid thought immediately: ‘Gunfire, Grenades Kill 3 at IRA Funeral’, Chicago Tribune, 17 March 1988.
Reid heard the sharp crack: This account draws on, among other sources, McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, pp.1117–20.
Adams seized a megaphone: Archival footage.
A slow-motion chase ensued: Archival footage; ‘3 Killed by Grenades at IRA Funeral’, New York Times, 17 March 1988; ‘Gunfire, Grenades Kill 3 at IRA Funeral’, Chicago Tribune, 17 March 1988.
Michael Stone, an East Belfast loyalist: Martin Dillon, Stone Cold: The True Story of Michael Stone and the Milltown Massacre (London: Random House, 1992), p.151.
Stone did not succeed in hitting Adams: McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1117.
And so a second giant funeral was arranged: Much of this account is drawn from ‘14 Days’.
Adams had darkly suggested: Dillon, Stone Cold, p.169.
The following Saturday, Father Reid: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.33. (Brady’s name is sometimes rendered in the Irish spelling: Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh.)
Brady had been a taxi driver: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34; McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1120.
The victims would be buried in the same ground: ‘14 Days’.
Father Reid walked out: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
But just as Reid was: Ibid., p.34.
The vehicle accelerated out of nowhere: Archival footage; McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1121.
As hundreds of mourners swarmed: A photograph clearly captures one of the soldiers with a gun in his hand. ‘14 Days’.
‘It’s the peelers!’: ‘From Irish Pulpit, Sense of Revulsion’, New York Times, 21 March 1988.
One of the men had indeed: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
But even as the mob: Archival footage. It was Wood who fired into the air. McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1121.
They were soldiers: ‘Murdered Soldiers “Defied Orders”’, Guardian, 21 March 1988. Rumours persist in Belfast that the soldiers may not have simply happened on the funeral by mistake but had been engaged in some sort of covert surveillance.
But by that time: Ibid.
Somebody arrived with a wheel brace: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
Reid saw the men getting: ‘14 Days’; McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
There was a madness in the air: ‘14 Days’.
Scrambling down onto the ground: ‘Father Alec Reid Reveals How He Tried to Save Two British Soldiers Killed in One of the Most Shocking Episodes of the Troubles’, Independent, 10 March 2013.
‘Would somebody get an ambulance!’: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
But a voice above him growled: ‘Father Alec Reid Reveals How He Tried to Save Two British Soldiers Killed in One of the Most Shocking Episodes of the Troubles’, Independent, 10 March 2013.
The soldiers were thrown: McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1121. McKeever, One Man, One God, p.34.
Reid was running: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.35.
David Howes was twenty-three: McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1124.
Derek Wood, who was twenty-four: McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, p.1121; ‘Murdered Soldiers “Defied Orders”’, Guardian, 21 March 1988.
The two men were left there: ‘14 Days’.
‘Father, that man is dead’: Ibid.
Reid looks directly at the camera: The photographer was David Cairns. ‘Father Alec Reid Reveals How He Tried to Save Two British Soldiers Killed in One of the Most Shocking Episodes of the Troubles’, Independent, 10 March 2013.
‘People have had enough’: ‘Priest Tried to Revive Dying British Soldier’, South China Morning Post, 22 March 1988.
‘Physical force is a sign of the desperation of the poor’: Ibid.
Before he left the requiem Mass: ‘Father Alec Reid Reveals How He Tried to Save Two British Soldiers Killed in One of the Most Shocking Episodes of the Troubles’, Independent, 10 March 2013; ‘Fr Alec Reid Death’, Belfast Telegraph, 23 November 2013.
For years, he had tried: McKeever, One Man, One God, pp.21–23.
But he had come to believe: ‘14 Days’. Also see Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, pp.232–33.
‘pushing an open door’: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.31.
But to Brendan Hughes: H-BC.
Only the Church had the status: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.28.
The one conceivable scenario: Ibid., p.30.
‘They bomb factories’: Paul Routledge, John Hume (London: HarperCollins, 1997), p.217.
‘Sinn Féin will disappear up their own contradiction’: Ibid., p.211.
Six months after Hume made these remarks: McKeever, One Man, One God, pp.31–32.
At the time Reid sent his letter: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.33. There had been discussions about the possibility of talks before this, but they had foundered. See
Adams, A Farther Shore, pp.44–45.
Hume had always said: Routledge, John Hume, p.216.
In the autumn of 1987, the IRA: ‘Bombing in Ulster Kills 11 in Crowd; IRA Is Suspected’, New York Times, 9 November 1987.
Adams apologised for the attack: ‘Making the Words Flow Like Blood’, The Times, 12 November 1987.
‘an act of sheer savagery’: Routledge, John Hume, p.216.
It could be hazardous: ‘Firebomb Attack on Home of John Hume’, Irish Times, 9 May 1987.
Nevertheless, on 11 January 1988: George Drower, John Hume: Man of Peace (London: Victor Gollancz, 1996), p.133.
They had spoken: According to Adams, the first meeting took place in 1986. Adams, A Farther Shore, p.45.
It would be politically dangerous: Routledge, John Hume, p.214.
Hume experienced the same dissonance: John Hume, A New Ireland: Politics, Peace, and Reconciliation (Boulder, Col.: Roberts Rinehart, 1996), p.115.
In claustrophobic Belfast: McKeever, One Man, One God, p.33.
As Reid ministered to the men: Ibid., p.35.
Reid returned to Clonard Monastery: ‘14 Days’.
Adams had no intention: ‘Belfast Candidate Wins Parliament Seat for IRA’, Reuters, 11 June 1983.
‘I am not a member of the IRA’: ‘Making the Words Flow Like Blood’, The Times, 12 November 1987.
Mac Stíofáin growled, ‘All of them’: Behind the Mask, documentary, directed by Frank Martin (BBC, 1991).
The media, dating back: See, for instance, ‘Gerry Adams Is Held by Troops’, Belfast Telegraph, 19 July 1973; ‘Sinn Féin Leader to See Minister’, The Times, 6 November 1982; ‘In the Shadow of Violence’, The Times, 28 May 1983.
Adams defended the morality: ‘I Am an IRA Volunteer’, Republican News, 1 May 1976.
A few years after writing: ‘Sinn Féin Boss Denies IRA Control’, Reuters, 14 December 1982; ‘IRA Tries New Mix – Violence, Politics’, Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1982.
Opponents joked: ‘Making the Words Flow Like Blood’, The Times, 12 November 1987.
Yet the walls outside the headquarters: ‘IRA Politicians Shift Tactics for Election’, Associated Press, 23 May 1983.
Such contradictions may simply: ‘The Case Against Gerry Adams’, The Irish People, 23 September 1978.
But he fought the charges: ‘Sinn Féin Not the Same As IRA, Says Court’, Guardian, 7 September 1978.
‘an enigmatic role to play’: ‘Sinn Féin Vice-President Gerry Adams’, The Irish People, 27 November 1982.
‘The presence of the gun in Irish politics’: Ibid.
‘Brian’ll phone them’: ‘Junior Executive Types Canvass with Adams’, Irish Times, 7 June 1983.
He published a book of gauzy: Gerry Adams, Falls Memories: A Belfast Life (Niwot, Col.: Roberts Rinehart, 1994).
He appointed a press aide: ‘IRA Politicians Shift Tactics for Election’, Associated Press, 23 May 1983.
Sinn Féin began to open: ‘A Gunman Cleans Up His Act’, Observer, 17 April 1983.
Instead, McGuinness continued: Ibid.
Some nationalists from the SDLP: Ibid.
In his first address: ‘Terrorism Continues As Sinn Féin Heads for Wider Role in Politics’, The Times, 14 November 1983.
Just before Christmas in 1983: ‘Thatcher Moves to Silence Men Behind the IRA’, The Times, 23 December 1983.
‘had not gone right’: ‘Adams Denies Rift in Republican Ranks’, The Times, 20 December 1983.
The following October, a volunteer placed: ‘Bomb Ours, Says IRA’, Guardian, 13 October 1984. For a fascinating fictional exploration of this event, see Jonathan Lee’s novel High Dive (New York: Knopf, 2016).
‘Today we were unlucky, but remember’: McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, p.162.
‘a blow for democracy’: ‘Sinn Féin “Fears Murder Plot”’, The Times, 5 November 1984.
‘I don’t like to hand myself to them on a plate’: ‘Thatcher and the IRA: Dealing with Terror’.
After an arrest in 1983: ‘Adams Arrested’, Irish Times, 9 June 1983.
The MP for West Belfast: ‘Gunmen Wound Sinn Féin Leader’, Boston Globe, 15 March 1984; ‘Adams Shot Three Times after Court Appearance’, Irish Times, 15 March 1984.
After years on the run, Adams tended: ‘Gerry Adams Is Shot 3 Times in Street Attack’, The Times, 15 March 1984.
He had grown so fearful: ‘Gunmen Wound Sinn Féin Leader’, Boston Globe, 15 March 1984.
Adams had taken to predicting: ‘Gerry Adams Is Shot 3 Times in Street Attack’, The Times, 15 March 1984.
Two gunmen fired a dozen shots: ‘Gunmen Wound Sinn Féin Leader’, Boston Globe, 15 March 1984; ‘Adams Shot Three Times after Court Appearance’, Irish Times, 15 March 1984; ‘Public Statement by the Police Ombudsman Under Section 62 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998: Relating to the Complaints in Respect of the Attempted Murder of Mr. Gerry Adams on 14 March 1984’, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (2014).
‘I have followed too many coffins’: ‘Gunmen Wound Sinn Féin Leader’, Boston Globe, 15 March 1984.
But from his bed at Royal Victoria Hospital: ‘Adams Says Army Knew of “Loyalist” Attack Plan’, The Times, 16 March 1984.
They greeted the news: ‘An Everyday Story of Ulster Folk’, The Times, 16 March 1984.
Chapter 19: Blue Ribbons
When Brendan Hughes was finally released: H-BC.
‘I called her to the jail’: ‘Decommissioned Provos Thrown on Scrap Heap’, Sunday Tribune, 16 April 2006.
Sometimes Hughes would go for a walk: Ibid.
There were places: H-BC.
This way, Adams could keep repeating: ‘Hughes No Longer Toes the Provo Line’, Sunday Tribune, 17 December 2000.
Hughes travelled to New York: Interview with Martin Galvin.
‘Shoot postmen?’: H-BC.
‘I don’t want your fucking money!’: Ibid.
When Twomey died: Ibid.
A few days after New Year in 1989: Birth announcement for Fintan Daniel Sugar Rea, Field Day Archives.
Just over a year later: ‘“Game” Player’, Entertainment Weekly, 11 December 1992.
‘Know any babysitters?’: Dolours Price to Colette Nellis, 30 May 1990, Field Day Archives; Oscar Rea birth announcement, Field Day Archives.
‘cracked about them’: ‘Patriot Games’, People, 8 February 1993.
Seamus Heaney composed: ‘Seamus Heaney Loved Dirty Jokes? Tell Us Another One’, Irish Times, 23 February 2017.
‘I’d find it kind of phony’: ‘Two Vehicles Carry an Irish Actor to America’, New York Times, 22 November 1992.
‘It’s never the right time to publish’: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
What this meant in practice: On the broadcasting ban in general, see Ed Moloney, ‘Closing Down the Airwaves: The Story of the Broadcasting Ban’, in Bill Rolston (ed.), The Media and Northern Ireland: Covering the Troubles (London: Macmillan, 1991).
‘There was nothing to stop us’: ‘Fury Over TV Dirty Trick’, Daily Mail, 10 April 1990.
‘The problems will never be solved’: ‘Why I Spoke for Gerry Adams’, Independent, 4 November 1993.
One of the characters: ‘How We Made The Crying Game’, Guardian, 21 February 2017.
‘Redemption through suffering’: ‘Two Vehicles Carry an Irish Actor to America’, New York Times, 22 November 1992.
‘You mustn’t assume that my politics’: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
‘That’s a political statement’: ‘“Game” Player’, Entertainment Weekly, 11 December 1992.
In December 1992, Rea and Price: ‘Patriot Games’, People, 8 February 1993.
‘She would have been ideally suited’: Interview with Carrie Twomey.
To Rea, it was a story: ‘Patriot Games’, People, 8 February 1993.
There were ordinary, decent people: Ibid.
‘I’ve had enough’: ‘A Man Who Laughs at His Demons�
�, Irish Times, 20 February 1993.
In August 1994, the IRA: Dolours Price, ‘Rummaging’, The Blanket, 9 July 2004.
‘Whatever soul searchings’: Padraic Pearse, ‘Why We Want Recruits’, in The Collected Works of Padraic H. Pearse: Political Writings and Speeches (Dublin: Éire-Gael Society, 2013), p.66.
The one major concession: McKearney, Provisional IRA, p.179.
As one former IRA volunteer: Ibid., p.173.
‘In return for ending the armed insurrection’: Ibid., p.176.
One day the following summer: ‘IRA Victims Campaign Stepped Up’, Irish Times, 27 June 1995.
‘Four women and eight men came into our home’: Ibid.
Helen was thirty-seven: In 1998, Helen became a grandmother, at 40. ‘Family’s Plea to IRA over Fate of Mother’, Guardian, 13 May 1998.
At one point, an opportunity had emerged: ‘IRA Embarrassed by Family’s “Secret Burial” Campaign’, Guardian, 30 August 1995.
If childhood had been difficult: Interview with Michael McConville.
served a prison sentence in England: ‘Woman Beaten As She Intervened in Loyalist Attack on Belfast Home’, The Irish Times, 19 June 1995.
But Michael and Helen had clashed: Interview with Michael McConville.
In 1992, Jean McConville’s oldest child: Death certificate for Anne McConville. She was born on 28 November 1952 and died on 29 September 1992.
Helen peered into the coffin: ‘Jean McConville’s Daughter: “If I Give Up Fighting, They’ve Won”’, Observer, 6 July 2014.
An old fellow slipped McKendry a bookie’s docket: ‘An IRA Death Squad Took Our Mother. There’ll Be No Peace for Us until We Find Her Body’, Daily Express, 23 July 1998.
He was twenty-two: ‘Secret Graves of the Missing Ones’, Sunday Tribune, 5 July 1998.
Over the years, there were rumours: Ibid.
McKinney was left with a nagging: ‘IRA Victims Campaign Stepped Up’, Irish Times, 27 June 1995.
After years of frightened silence: ‘Secret Graves of the Missing Ones’, Sunday Tribune, 5 July 1998.
‘I could accept now’: ‘Five Men Quizzed on “Disappeared”’, Belfast Telegraph, 24 January 1996.
For years, she had refused: ‘Secret Graves of the Missing Ones’, Sunday Tribune, 5 July 1998.
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