Tommy McKearney

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Tommy McKearney (b. 1952, Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Republican, and former hunger striker and member (volunteer) within the Provisional Irish Republican Army.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Background

McKearney was born into a family with a long republican tradition. Both his grandfathers had fought in the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence, his maternal grandfather Tom Murray was an Adjutant General in the North Roscommon Brigade.[1][3] McKearney has lost three of his brothers during the Troubles. Sean was killed by his own bomb in 1974, Pádraig was killed by the SAS in Loughgall in 1987, and Kevin, a non-paramilitary, was killed by Loyalists in 1992 while working in the family's butcher shop.[4]

[edit] IRA membership

McKearney joined the IRA in 1971 aged 18, and was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade.[5][6] He became the brigade's Officer Commanding during the mid seventies.[5] On 19 October 1977 he was arrested and charged with the murder of Stanley Adams, a postman and part-time Ulster Defence Regiment member. McKearney was interrogated for seven days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and claims to have been ill-treated while in custody. McKearney later received a twenty year sentence for the murder of Adams, after a statement which he never signed was accepted by the court on the word of a Royal Ulster Constabulary Inspector.[7]

[edit] Hunger strike

McKearney was involved in the blanket and dirty protests, then took part in the 1980 hunger strike, along with fellow IRA members Brendan Hughes, Raymond McCartney, Tom McFeeley, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, and Irish National Liberation Army member John Nixon.[8]. McKearney spent 53 days on hunger strike, from 27 October to 18 December, and according to a doctor had only a few hours left to live when the strike was called off.[9]

[edit] Release

McKearney was released from prison in 1993, having served 16 years of his sentence, and joined Ruairí Ó Brádaigh's Republican Sinn Féin.[4][10] In 2003 he appeared in the BBC documentary Life After Life with former Ulster Volunteer Force prisoner Billy Mitchell.[11] He now works as a freelance journalist and is an organiser for the Independent Workers Union.[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 100-102. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. 
  2. ^ Taylor, Peter. Families at War. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  3. ^ English, Richard (2004). Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. Pan Books, p. 129. ISBN 0-330-49388-4. 
  4. ^ a b Fiona Foster (April, 1994). One of 'the unmanageables'. Living Marxism. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  5. ^ a b Lister, David (11 February 2003). Why the PIRA Will go On. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  6. ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 101. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. 
  7. ^ Ibid, pp. 206-207
  8. ^ English, Richard (2004). Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. Pan Books, p. 193. ISBN 0-330-49388-4. 
  9. ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 232-234. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. 
  10. ^ O'Brien, Brendan (1999). Long War: The IRA & Sinn Fein. The O'Brien Press, p. 153. ISBN 0-86278-606-1. 
  11. ^ Mark Simpson (13 June 2003). Life after the NI conflict. BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  12. ^ Tommy McKearney (5 February 2006). Sinn Fein: time to move on. The Sunday Business Post. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.

[edit] External links

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