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Killers party at Maze escape night
GARDAI ignored at least two bomb warnings to a hotel packed with tourists and ex-terrorists after receiving "assurances" from black-clad republican "security men" that "we are happy that it is under control". American, French and British tourists staying at the Holiday Inn in Letterkenny,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Co Donegal were not informed of the bomb scares phoned to gardai before and during a function honouring IRA men who escaped from the Maze prison in a mass break-out on September 25, 1983.
Visitors entering the hotel were stopped by "security" provided by 20 black-clad Sinn Fein activists armed with walkie-talkies and ear pieces. They also searched goods vans entering the hotel. There was no gardai at the function attended by IRA men, many of whom had been jailed in the Maze for murders and bombings.
Sinn Fein vice-president Gerry Kelly, who shot a prison warder twice in the head during the break-out, described it as "a great experience". One warder, James Ferris, who was stabbed in the chest with a chisel during the break-out, later died in hospital from a heart attack. Nobody was ever convicted in connection with his death.
At an impromptu press conference before the function, Gerry Kelly, who was then leader of the IRA men in the Maze prison in Belfast, joked "most people enjoy escapes, I enjoyed the Colditz film [about a mass break-out by British prisoners of war from a German prison camp],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it was a good experience for me, I got out of jail after 10 years."
Kelly, who was in the Maze for his part in the Old Bailey bombing,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], boasted that he and other IRA men "on the run" were hidden in the homes of "all kinds of people," including prominent Fianna Fail and Fine Gael supporters in the south. But later at a secret "cabaret", Kelly and other IRA leaders were cheered when they gave a more chilling account of their break-out.
Gerry Kelly said, before the event, that "three of us are going to have a bit of craic on stage". However, the room where the event took place, the Shelbridge Suite,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], was blocked off by a posse of Sinn Fein security men and the press were excluded.
Gerry Kelly, dressed in a trendy open-neck shirt, black jeans and sneakers, was seated on a raised dais in the hotel ballroom before a crowd of between 800 friends and supporters. On his left-hand side was Robert Storey, convicted of attempted murder, and on his right was Brendan 'Bic' McFarlane, convicted of the murder of five people in the bombing of a bar on the Shankhill Road.
Kelly told the assembled crowds "the real" story of the break-out,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], complete with video footage of the area around the Maze as it is today and still photographs of some of the IRA men at that time.
"There was nine of us in a car and it just collapsed, we faked an accident and another car came along. It was driven by a woman. I got her by the throat and took her out of the car gently . . . well, maybe not too gently," he told his amusedaudience.
Kelly said they "booted" along in the car and the IRA man was a "good driver". At this point,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Storey
Sinn Fein vice-president Gerry Kelly, who shot a prison warder twice in the head during the break-out, described it as 'a great experience'
intervened, "he was not a good driver - I said to him I'll go out and shoot a Brit, you get me away, he didn't and I got 18 years." This got a rousing cheer and applause from the assembled fellow-travellers.
The guests at the function were told,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], after a buffet supper, how armed gangs of IRA men in trucks had crossed the border. The plan was that they would collect the men after the mass break-out but they waited an hour and when nobody came, they left. The result was there was nobody to collect the 38 IRA men when they got through the gates of the Maze. Nineteen of them were picked up within hours but others such as McFarlane, who described walking for three days until they made contact with the IRA, got into the border counties.
A number of the escapers were involved within a few months in the Don Tidey kidnap in which 23-year-old Garda recruit, Gary Sheehan, and a member of the army,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Patrick Kelly, were shot dead at Derrada Wood near Ballinamore on December 16, 1983.
But,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], for the casually dressed IRA men and their friends,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Friday night's event was "a bit of craic" as they celebrated what Kelly later said was a historic event for republicans because after the disaster of the Hunger Strikes,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], "we had to wipe the grin off Thatcher's face".
Only two of the 19 who got away "still haven't come before a court" in connection with the escape. Gerry Kelly said they were not at the event. But many others who escaped were present.
Not since Daniel O'Donnell's wedding at the same hotel, which was opened in 1991 by Bertie Ahern, has there been such a publicity blitz in Donegal. In a corner of the lobby, Tony Kelly, convicted of the murder of an RUC reservist,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Robert Russell, convicted of attempted murder,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and Martin McManus, convicted of possessions of guns, had their photograph taken together as a memento of the occasion.
Others who escaped from the Maze that day included Kevin Barry Artt, who was convicted of murdering a deputy governor of the Maze prison; Terence Kirby, who murdered a 77-year-old garage owner,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], William Creighton; Seamus Clarke, who was convicted of murdering five people in the Shankhill bar bomb; Kieran Fleming, who was convicted of murdering policewoman Linda Baggley; Seamus McElwane who murdered at least two policemen and maybe as many as 12 people and was later shot dead by the SAS; Dermot Finucane, one of three IRA brothers of solicitor Pat Finucane, who was convicted of possession of fire arms; James Pius Clarke, who was convicted of attempted murder and Sean McGlinchey,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who was convicted of the murder of six people in a car bomb in Coleraine.
Many of them - dressed casually in jeans and shirts, the preferred casual gear of ex-terrorists - mingled with supporters at the reunion, which was originally organised as a Sinn Fein fund-raiser but later turned into a night to honour old comrades. There were presentations of plaques to those who escaped and a minute's silence was observed for three of them who were later killed in separate incidents.
After the buffet supper and the reconstruction of the escape by Kelly, McFarlane and Storey, the presentations were made. Entertainment was then provided by Derek Warfield of the Wolfe Tones who gave them rousing renditions of The Men Behind The Wire and The Roll of Honour.
Senior Sinn Fein figure Pat Doherty was the only major republican figure to attend the gathering, with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness staying away,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], despite speculation that they might turn up for the evening.
Throughout the night, the 20 republican security men maintained a show of strength outside andinside the hotel. Detectives called briefly and conferred with them and with the hotel owner following the bomb threats.
The genial hotel manager,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Michael Naughton, defended the presence of people questioning guests, although they were not employed by the hotel.
"If they weren't here, gardai would have to be here," he said. Mr Naughton said that the threats to the hotel "were not real bomb scares,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], they didn't have a code word". He also said that when he took the booking, he didn't realise "the hype" it would generate, but he soon realised it would be a major media event and discussed security and press details with representatives of Sinn Fein.
During a "casual" press conference that was carefully staged by Sinn Fein officials,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Gerry Kelly, now a leading figure in the republican movement, said: "Sometimes I have to think about this as history. I went through it. A small number have since died, I want to honour them.
"I have been accused by Jeffrey Donaldson, he should stop whinging on the airwaves and do something about the peace process. He said a small number were 'still on the run'. I'm hardly going to tell the press,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], I don't expect anyone on the run to be here tonight," Gerry Kelly said.
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