Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
THE LIFE AND POLITICS OF AN IRISH REVOLUTIONARY
ROBERT W. WHITE
FOREWORD BY ED MOLONEY
IndianaUniversityPress
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
First paperback edition 2020
© 2006 by Robert W. White
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
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Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-34708-4 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-253-04829-5 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-253-04832-5 (ebook)
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In memory of my mother,Margaret Mary Hanrahan White,and my father,Howard Christy White
CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
2 The Brady Family: Irish Republicans in the 1930s and 1940s
3 Off to College and into Sinn Féin and the IRA: 1950–1954
4 Arms Raids, Elections, and the Border Campaign: 1955–1956
5 Derrylin, Mountjoy, and Teachta Dála: December 1956–March 1957
6 TD, Internee, Escapee, and Chief of Staff: March 1957–June 1959
7 Marriage and Ending the Border Campaign: June 1959–February 1962
8 Political and Personal Developments in the 1960s: March 1962–1965
10 The Provisionals: September 1968–October 1970
11 The Politics of Revolution: Éire Nua, November 1970–December 1972
12 International Gains and Personal Losses: January 1973–November 1974
13 The Responsibilities of Leadership: November 1974–February 1976
14 A Long War: March 1976–September 1978
15 A New Generation Setting the Pace: October 1978–August 1981
16 “Never, that’s what I say to you—Never”: September 1981–October 1986
17 “We are here and we are very much in business”: October 1986–May 1998
AFTERWORD: THE LEGACY OF RUARÍ Ó BRÁDAIGH
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
TO BEGIN, I want to thank Jennika Baines and Indiana University Press for going forward with a paperback edition of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary. A decade after he stepped down as president of Republican Sinn Féin and more than five years after he passed away, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and his politics remain important for anyone seeking to understand the Irish Republican Movement since the mid-1950s. It is impossible to fully appreciate where “Provisional” Sinn Féin is today without understanding where they were at the beginning, and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was there at the beginning. Starting with the split in 1986 and lasting for more than twenty-five years, he was the key person involved in laying the ideological and organizational foundation for the many different contemporary Republicans who reject the path taken by the Provisionals—the “Dissidents.”
Contrary to what some reviewers have suggested, this was never an official or authorized biography. As noted in the acknowledgments and elsewhere, in interviews, conversations, and correspondence, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh provided facts and opinions and then let me form my own conclusions. He offered no objection when it became clear that my conclusions would be informed by the perspectives of a variety of people, including his political opponents. His approach to the project and to life in general was shaped by the strength of his own convictions, a willingness to listen to others, and an open-minded, unassuming self-assuredness that is sadly lacking in most political figures, in Ireland and elsewhere.
I again thank the many different people who helped with this biography. In addition, special thanks go to Líta Ní Chathmhaoil,