Bewildered British soldiers kept Northern Ireland from plunging into a bloodbath - but not even an army could preserve the peace. As violence escalated, a skeletal hand reached out around the world to touch everyone with Irish blood in their veins - Sean Connors and Kate O'Brien included.
Kate resisted. She wanted no more than her blissful existence with Sean. But Sean was troubled. Life had been kind to him. He had acquired wealth and success beyond his dreams. He had found a perfect partner in Kate. He lacked nothing - except peace from his conscience. Memories of his father plagued him. It had been easy once - he had told himself that he would build assets first, then he would do something for Ireland. Besides the Troubles had seemed to fade away. But now Sean had assets, and Ireland's Troubles grew worse every day. He had to do something.
"I owe it to the Da," he told Kate.
"But you're not a politician. What on earth can you do?"
"I don't know," Sean shook his head glumly, "but I must do something. I've always believed in one Ireland. People have a right to run their own affairs."
"The people in the north want to stay part of Britain -"
"The Protestants in the north -"
"The majority in the north."
They backed away, not wanting to argue. In truth, Kate cared nothing for Ireland. She just hated the idea of Sean becoming involved. Instinctively she felt no good would come of it. "Besides," she said, "you hate the IRA. I've heard you in New York -"
"I know, I do hate the IRA but... oh it's hard to explain. When I first came to London the British Empire spanned the world. All the atlases were smothered in red. But when people wanted to go free there was no British outcry to keep them by force, they just let them go. Why should Ireland be different?"
Kate said nothing.
"It started in Dublin," Sean mused, "the break-up of the Empire. 1916 and all that - the Da fighting alongside Pearse and Connolly in the Post Office. The Irish were first, yet all these years later Ireland is still divided.
"It's not your concern -"
"I must do something. It's bad enough being called a traitor every time I go to the States. I believed I was right when I spoke out during the war. I spoke out then and I must speak out now."
The idea terrified her. The papers were full of terrorist killings ...
Jim Cross's despatches from Belfast grew more lurid every week. Seven Days expanded its coverage of the Troubles from half a column to a regular page, sometimes more according to the number of sectarian killings.
Then, at the end of July, Jim Cross came over from Belfast for one of their regular meetings. Sean and Michael spent the day with him - and by the end of the afternoon Sean was outlining one of the most ambitious projects of his life.
"It will be colossal if we pull it off," Michael said.
"Can we guarantee television coverage?" asked Jimmy Cross.
Sean nodded, "I'll get the coverage, if you get the right people on camera."
All three were excited by the prospect. Seven Days would produce a special issue on the Troubles, and Transatlantic Television would make a documentary for screening coast to coast across the States.
"Not just the States," Sean added, "Australia will buy it, so will the Canadians - interest in Ireland has really built up. The programme will have an audience of millions, all over the world."
Sean wanted every point of view represented.
Jimmy frowned, "If we include the paramilitaries we'll have the law on our backs. The RUC will call it an incitement to riot -"
"Rubbish! We merely want to include all shades of opinion."
Jimmy shrugged, "I'm just warning you. The Ulster Volunteers and the IRA are illegal organisations. The RUC will squeal like stuck pigs."
But Sean was determined - "We'll handle the RUC as best we can. God knows I hold no brief for the IRA, or the other lot - but we've got to include them to show the whole problem. The point is, can you persuade them to put up some spokesmen?"
Jimmy thought he could. After months in Belfast he had come to know most of the participants, legal and otherwise. "The Provos might put up a man called Matt Lambert. He seems to be their propaganda chief. If he thinks he'll get big coverage in the States, I'm sure he'll buy it."
"And the UVF?"
"More difficult," Jimmy admitted. "Paisley pretends to have no truck with them, so he won't speak their piece - but he will spiel for hours on the Democratic Unionists. This fellow O'Brien might do it though. He won't admit being involved with the UVF either, but I'm bloody sure he is. And if I tell him the IRA will get their message across I'm damn sure he will want a rebuttal."
"Tim O'Brien?" Sean asked to be sure.
"That's right. Why, do you know him?"
Sean smiled, "I've never met him, but he's Kate's brother."
Kate was terrified. It was hard to say which frightened her most - Sean going to Belfast to make a television documentary, or Sean meeting her brother.
"I don't want you involved," she said flatly. "Why do you have to go?"
"We're involved already. Jim Cross has been filing stories for ages. It's news Kate, that's all. I'm in the news business."
"No. It's more than that for you. It's Ireland. It's your father and all the things you were taught as a boy. It's marches and banners and violence ..."
He tried to calm her, "Kate, there's no reason to get upset -"
"Why do you have to go? There's Michael and Jimmy Cross ... and all the others. Why you?"
Then she dissolved into tears.
Later, when she recovered, she tried to explain ... but explaining a premonition proved impossible - "I know it sounds stupid, irrational... but Ireland frightens me. I don't want you mixed up in Irish politics -"
"We're making a documentary, that's all -"
She wanted to explain about Tim - but shied away from putting thoughts into words. Tim could be so spiteful at times. If he found out about her and Sean ... if he dragged up her past! Oh why hadn't she told Sean about Mark ... why had she kept putting it off? There had seemed no need ... they had been so happy ...
"Honestly darling, there's nothing to worry about," Sean reassured her. "We'll be in and out of Belfast in a couple of days. People will hardly know we are there."
But Sean's hopes of slipping quietly across to Belfast were dashed completely three weeks later. It was inevitable really. Sean's staff had worked discreetly, but too many people were involved for the operation to be mounted unnoticed.
In Belfast itself, Jim Cross met not only legitimate politicians, but held clandestine meetings with the IRA and UVF. A house on the outskirts of the city was rented and turned into a small studio. Transatlantic Television technicians arrived with a mass of equipment ...
In New York deals were struck with the networks for screening three programmes called Spotlight on Ireland.
At Westminster, Seven Days' reporters recorded comments from everyone short of the Speaker.
In Dublin, Deputies in the Dail were interviewed.
In Washington, Congressmen pronounced judgement on the subject ... and in Sydney, Australians read about the forthcoming television series in one of Sean's own papers ...
Yet none of that might have mattered but for events in Fleet Street itself. As rumours grew that Seven Days and Transatlantic TV were about to produce major features on Northern Ireland, a rival newspaper editor decided to publish the story behind the story. "The Rise and Rise of Sean Connors" ran the headline, below which was a resume of Sean's career, complete with old photographs taken at the CBS studio during the war. Not only that but more recent photographs pictured him with
"... the glamorous Kate O'Brien, who has been his constant companion for years..."
Tim O'Brien could scarcely believe his eyes. He read the article again and again. He stared at the face and knew he was right...
Years fell away. Even in the more recent photographs there was a resemblance, the same square jaw and thick black hair ... but the earlier pictures were
positive proof. He knew that face. It was imprinted on his memory. If he closed his eyes he could still see the man running up the lane at Keady, brandishing a revolver ... he could still hear the gunfire and feel the pain in his legs. It was the face he had seen in the lane at Keady, all those years before ... the man who murdered his parents!
Tim caught his breath, struck by another memory. On a train, as a boy, catching a glimpse of that face in another paper ... with "Irish journalist leaves hospital" daubed on a placard. Unable to see the name ... just the face ... that face. Now he had a name to go with it - Sean Connors! After all this time ... but the shock went even deeper. Sean Connors and Kate! "... the glamorous Kate O'Brien, who has been his constant companion for years ..."
Tim swore aloud. The whore! The filthy, disgusting ...
He went rigid as the full implication hit him.
His sister slept with the man who had murdered their parents!
Tim O'Brien's anger was nothing compared to Matt Riordan's reaction. Matt was shattered. He had agreed to the documentary because of the promised American exposure - but there had been no mention of Connors. Cross, Jim Cross ... never said a word about Connors. Just Transatlantic TV and Seven Days. Now it turned out that Sean Connors owned them both!
Matt read the article again. He reached for a cigarette with a shaking hand. Connors was rich - with big houses and fancy cars no doubt, and holidays in the sun with this fancy woman ...
A life-style beyond Matt's comprehension. He tried to imagine it. But comparison was impossible. A life of luxury compared to one dedicated to the cause.
He remembered brave men he had known - Ferdy Malloy and so many others - all dead, killed fighting for Ireland. And his own father - Granite Liam Riordan - murdered at Keady by this bastard Sean Connors.
It took time for the shock to wear off but when it did, Matt realised the full implications, Connors was coming back to Ireland. They would meet face to face. After all these years. The realisation of Matt's impossible dream!
"Now," the article concluded, "Sean Connors - whose own father was an IRA hero - breaks new ground by combining his television and magazine interests for an in-depth investigation into the problems facing Belfast. Sean Connors takes his own empire back to Ireland. It could be a historic reunion."
Chapter Twelve
And so Sean Connors returned to Ireland. He and Kate arrived in Belfast at noon and Jimmy Cross met them at the airport.
Jimmy could hardly wait to get to the car. "That bloody newspaper story is all over town. The Telegraph expanded on it this morning. The Prods are pulling their hair out about your old man being in the IRA. They reckon you will be biased against them. You can imagine the line. Can we trust this man to be fair - that sort of stuff. Will he provide more propaganda for the IRA -"
"Rubbish. I'm accused of the opposite in New York. They call me a British stooge."
Jimmy smiled grimly, "You can't win, but neither can anyone else over here."
"What about the people who have promised us interviews? Has anyone pulled out?"
"Not that I've heard. This guy Matt Lambert is lined up for the morning ... then O'Brien in the afternoon. But you haven't heard all the bad news yet. The RUC are waiting at the hotel. If they have their way we won't interview anyone ...''
Kate was only half listening. She stared out of the window. Mostly she was thinking of that awful line in the paper about her being Sean's "constant companion". Tim must have read it by now. She braced herself against the lash of his tongue. Not that she minded what he called her ... as long as he kept quiet about Mark. Sean would be so hurt. How could she explain she had been a girl fresh out of school...
The car slowed down at a road block. Soldiers waved them on. Soldiers carrying guns. Kate shuddered.
She had to reach Tim first, before he saw Sean. Make him promise to keep quiet. It was all she could do. She thanked heaven for the Averdale Collection. If need be she would sell the paintings ... Tim could have the money ... he could have everything. Oh God they had been so happy ...
She had pleaded with Sean, begged him to stay in London. But he had been adamant - "No Kate, maybe it's only symbolic me being there, but I owe it to the Da to make sure we do a good job."
She was sick of "the Da". Sick, sick, sick! What was it that made the Irish cling to the past? What did she care that "the Da" was an IRA hero? Besides Sean hated the IRA. How could he be so damned ambivalent ...
He had urged her to stay in London - "I'll only be away three or four days."
How could she stay behind while Tim wrecked her whole life?
"No," she had said, "if you go, I'll go with you."
And here she was.
The car stopped at traffic lights. She stared at graffiti scrawled on the wall. Only as the car moved off did she realise the four foot high letters said "Fuck the Pope".
"That's the hotel," Jimmy was saying, "we'll go in the back way, in case some of the opposition are in the front lobby."
But the opposition were in the back lobby too. Flashbulbs burst as Kate stepped from the car. "Miss O'Brien - look this way please."
She turned a stunned face.
"Is it true Tim O'Brien is your brother?"
She gasped.
Suddenly the air was full of questions - "Can we have your comments on the situation, Miss O'Brien?" - "What about your brother's political future?"
"Okay boys," Sean shouted, "let Miss O'Brien through. I'll be back down in ten minutes. We'll have a drink in the bar. I'll give you a statement then. Let Miss O'Brien through."
They jostled her from every side. Cameras whirred and clicked into her face ...
But Sean was not "back down in ten minutes". Half an hour later he was still arguing with Inspector Carstairs of the RUC.
"Now look Inspector," Sean said, his voice full of temper, "I'm sorry but your people cannot be present during filming. I want people to speak freely, without any pressure or intimidation -"
"That's not good enough," Carstairs said testily. He was a ginger haired man whose ruddy complexion became more so as he became angry. "The very least I'll settle for is a list of the people you intend to interview."
"For God's sake, this is a free country -" "And a dangerous one, if you mix with subversive elements." "Mr Cross has interviewed subversives all over the world. Mau-Mau, Enosis, Viet-Cong -"
"Not on my patch!" Carstairs fairly bristled. Then he said, "This place at Lisburn that you're using for a studio. I give you fair warning. I've placed it under surveillance. If we see any wanted criminal enter or leave we shall arrest everyone concerned."
That was a body blow and Sean knew it. "Police harassment," he snapped, then relented in an effort to reach agreement. "Look Inspector, we want to make the film totally objective. Our only concern -"
"My only concern," Carstairs said as he walked to the door, "is to maintain the peace in this city."
He slammed the door behind him.
"Damn and blast," Sean turned to Jimmy, "under surveillance. Will that affect anything?"
Jimmy groaned, "God knows. The paramilitaries won't like it. This guy Lambert in the morning, he's not on the run exactly, but he treads a bloody thin line."
It was a very bad start. Sean groaned, "Imagine the outcry if someone is arrested because of us? If an IRA man gets picked up people in New York will swear I set him up."
They discussed the possibility of moving the studio, but the complications of shifting so much equipment defeated them. "Besides," Jimmy said, "if the police are watching they will just follow us."
It was obviously true. Finally Sean said, "You'd better warn this Lambert, just in case."
But even that was far from easy. Jimmy shook his head. "He's not exactly the type you ring up. I generally leave a message in a certain pub and he calls me a day or so later."
It was possible that Matt Lambert would not receive a warning in time. Lambert could walk into a trap!
Jimmy left the message at the pub,
and returned to spend an uncomfortable afternoon reviewing options. To abandon the project was inconceivable, Sean was in too deep to pull out. "We shall just have to go ahead," he said, "and hope for a few lucky breaks."
Later, over dinner, they listed the responses they would seek to elicit in the interviews. Kate generally enjoyed such sessions - she had made contributions to such meetings in Los Angeles and London and Rome - but that night in Belfast she barely said a word.
Jimmy was talking about her brother. "O'Brien will take the line that Provo aggression brought the UVF into being. He won't admit to being part of it. He will call it an understandable reaction to Catholic violence. My guess is ..." Jimmy broke off with an apologetic look in her direction, "I'm sorry Kate, I keep forgetting he's your brother -"
"That's all right," she said quietly, "it was bound to come out sooner or later."
She hoped nothing else would "come out".
She left them shortly after - "I'm sorry, but I'm tired. I'll have an early night, if you'll excuse me ..."
She declined Sean's offer to escort her upstairs - "Don't be silly, you and Jimmy have work to do."
Once in her suite she telephoned Tim. She had called him from London without success. Now, yet again, his housekeeper informed her he was out at a meeting.
"It's very urgent that I speak to him."
"Shall I ask him to call you back later?"
Kate hesitated. Sean might be with her later. She took a deep breath, "No, but will you tell him I shall call round in the morning, before he meets the Transatlantic television people. I'll be there at about eleven."
"At about eleven," she repeated as she hung up. The eleventh hour. How appropriate. But it was the only possible time. Sean would be at his studio, involved with his interviews ... she could offer to bring Tim along to this place Osprey House at Lisburn ... it will all look very natural...
"It will all look very natural," Matt Riordan said, "just drive up to the hotel at nine-thirty in the morning, wait for him to come out, open the back door for him, and then drive him slowly away."
Ian St James Compendium - Volume 1 Page 160