| Séanna Breathnach | |
|---|---|
Séanna Breathnach speaking at a Sinn Féin commemoration for IRA Volunteer Charlie McGlade in Drimnagh, Dublin. |
|
| Born | 1957 Short Strand, East Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Years of service | 1971- 1997 |
| Rank | Volunteer |
| Conflict | The Troubles[1] |
Séanna Breathnach (English: Séanna Walsh; born 1957) is an Irish republican and a former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Breathnach was born in the Short Strand area of East Belfast but for a time lived in Ravenhill Avenue until loyalists intimidated the Walsh family out of their home. Séanna’s great grandfather had been shot dead in the same area by B-Specials when Northern Ireland was founded.[2]
In 1973, he was arrested along with a number of fellow IRA men while robbing a bank and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. In Long Kesh prison, where he was entitled to Special Category Status as an IRA prisoner, he met and befriended Bobby Sands.[2]
Séanna was released from prison in May 1976. Three months later he was arrested and charged with possession of a rifle and was sentenced to ten years. By the time he arrived back in the H-Blocks, the British government had withdrawn Special Category status and IRA members had commenced the blanket protest. Walsh refused to wear a prison uniform and went on to become one of the leaders of the blanket protest.[2]
When the hunger strike ended in late 1981, Walsh became the Officer Commanding (OC) of the IRA prisoners in the H-Blocks. He was released after seven years and seven months. Upon his release, he married Sinéad Moore, a former republican prisoner, and had two daughters, the youngest of whom was only two weeks old when he was arrested again.[2]
He was caught making explosives and mortar bombs and was sentenced to twenty-two years. While on remand in Crumlin Road Gaol he again became OC of the IRA prisoners.[2]
At the age of forty-two he had spent over half his life, a total of twenty-one years, in jail. He was released under the provisions of the 1998 Belfast Agreement. He now works for Sinn Féin.[2]
In July 2005, he appeared on a DVD reading out a statement from the IRA Army Council announcing the end to its armed campaign.[3] In doing so, Breathnach became the first IRA member since 1972 to represent the organisation without wearing a mask.[4]