In recent decades he became cut off from mainstream republicanism too, utterly opposed as he was to the strategy of Gerry Adams and others of taking republicanism into politics. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is that tradition and that is why this account of his life and politics is so important." His father Matthew had served in the IRA and named his son Peter Roger Casement Brady after the Irish Republican executed during World War I. Ó Brádaigh was educated in Longford before studying commerce and Irish Gaelic in Dublin. Ó Brádaigh’s health declined and he retired from politics in September 2009. Ó Brádaigh reemerged in 1969 after the IRA’s failure to protect Catholics from Loyalist violence and police brutality. Young turks, headed by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, seized control in a bloodless coup, claiming that during the ceasefire the British "probably came as near at that time to defeating the republican struggle than at any other time.". Ruairi O Bradaigh, who has died at the age of 80, never deviated during his long republican career from his profound belief that the British presence was the sole cause of all Ireland's woes. In these positions, he exercised considerable influence over the Provisional IRA’s military strategy during the 1970s. O’Bradaigh joined Sinn Fein in 1950, and next year the IRA. He headed the assault party on Arborfield on 13 August 1955 and was elected to the IRA Executive. An implacable warrior who regarded himself as keeper of the sacred republican flame, he vowed that he would never accept Ireland's present "illegitimate" institutions. Niall Ó Dochartaigh. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Funeral, republican sinn fein, continuity ira, dissident republicans Gardaí and mourners clashed at the funeral of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh today. During this period he was a strident critic of leaders like Adams and Martin McGuinness. He insisted: "The armed struggle and sitting in parliaments are mutually exclusive. Ó Brádaigh became a founding member of the Provisional IRA and was elected president of Sinn Fein in 1970. In line with Sinn Fein’s abstentionist policy, he never took up his seat in the Dáil. But such isolation never cost him a moment's concern. "As long as the British remain, there will always be some kind of IRA," O Bradaigh shrugged. Private Eye regularly sneered at him, meanwhile, as "Rory O'Bloodbath". His mother and father, both active republicans, named him Peter Roger Casement Brady in memory of Roger Casement, a republican martyr executed by the British for his part in the 1916 Rising. Excerpts from interviews with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (IRA Chief of Staff, 1958-59, 1960-62; President of Sinn Féin, 1970-83, and Republican Sinn Féin, 1987-2009); Commentary from Tom Maguire (1892-1993; the last surviving member of the Second Dáil Éireann) and Michael Flannery (1902-1994; IRA veteran and founding-member of Irish Northern Aid); and, He also headed the IRA. Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson Title: “Ruairí Ó Brádaigh” It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Ruairi O Bradaigh on 5th June 2013. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh held the presidency of Republican Sinn Fein for 22 years. FINE Gael TD Frank Feighan has defended his decision to attend the funeral of veteran dissident republican leader Ruairi O Bradaigh, despite ugly clashes between riot police and a 'colour party'. Although most of this was recovered before it could be smuggled to Ireland, the incident made O Bradaigh's reputation, and he briefly became IRA chief of staff before the campaign petered out for lack of public support. Since the mid-1950s, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh has played a singular role in the Irish Republican Movement. Ever since then Republican Sinn Fein has been an insignificant group, in two decades failing to attract any appreciable support. 1956 – Trained the Teeling Column (one of the four armed units prepared for the Campaign) in the West of Ireland. Mon, Nov 10, 2003, 00:00. He was one of the most influential figures in Irish Republicanism for more than half a century. Everyone knew that O Bradaigh had always held that ending traditional abstentionism would spell the beginning of the end for armed struggle and lead on to what he denounced as constitutionalism. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was a leading figure within Irish Republicanism since the late 1950s, serving as Chief-of-Staff of the IRA during Operation Harvest and, later, on the IRA Army Council. Since the mid-1950s, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh has played a singular role in the Irish Republican Movement. Parliament is a substitute for a national liberation struggle. Scar Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Dáithí Ó Conaill agus a lucht tacaíochta ón ghluaiseacht oifigiúil Phoblachtach agus bhunaigh arm sealadach. He was once described by the FBI as "a national security threat, a dedicated revolutionary undeterred by threat or personal risk." He was born in 1932 in the Irish Republic. Joining Sinn Fein and the IRA at an early age, he was involved in the small-scale and ill-supported campaign launched by the IRA in 1956. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is that tradition and that is why this account of his life and politics is so important." He commanded raids on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) stations during the IRA’s Border War and was subsequently arrested and jailed. He died in Roscommon in June 2013, aged 80. His opinions meant he was always isolated from mainstream Irish nationalism. In 1972, for example, it was responsible for 229 of the year's 500 deaths. This website on Northern Ireland and the Troubles is created and maintained by Alpha History. Ó Brádaigh was arrested in November 1959, refused to answer questions, and was jailed under the Offences against the state act in Mountjoy. But it spawned a military wing, the Continuity IRA, which over the years has claimed a number of lives. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use. His fathe Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is that tradition and that is why this account of his life and politics is so important." 1955 – Ó Brádaigh led a ten-member IRA group in an arms raid on Hazebrouck Barracks, near Arborfield, Berkshire. Ó Brádaigh was opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, declaring it a “sell out” of true Irish Republicanism. It contains 192,305 words in 276 pages and was updated last on January 30th 2021. “Ó Brádaigh was Chief of Staff of the IRA from 1958 to 1959 and 1969 to 1962″ He liked to do a bit of time travel in his spare time too. In later life he took a grim satisfaction in declaring that he had been correct in predicting that the new leadership would eventually opt for politics and preside over the disbandment and disarmament of the IRA. That October, Ó Brádaigh became the IRA Chief of Staff, a position he held until May 1959, when an IRA Convention elected Sean Cronin as C/S; Ó Brádaigh became Cronin's adjutant general. He was replaced as chief of staff by Cathal Goulding in 1962. Ó Brádaigh was forced out of the Sinn Fein presidency in 1983 and replaced by Gerry Adams. The Longest Negotiation: British Policy, IRA Strategy and the Making of the Northern Ireland Peace Settlement. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (1932-2011) was an Irish Republican who served as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) chief of staff, Sinn Fein president and the founding leader of Republican Sinn Fein. Mr O Bradaigh, who was president of Sinn Fein at the time, also appeared to contradict claims by Martin McGuinness about the role of the party at the height of the crisis. who promised delegates: "Our position is clear and it will never, never, never change: the war against British rule must continue until freedom is achieved.". Date published: January 25, 2018 Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh’s political opponents in Irish politics, such as the protagonists of the Official-IRA and the Workers’ Party or the post-1986 Provisional Movement, try to portray Ruairí Ó Brádaigh as a petty-bourgeoisie, conservative, and religious Irish Nationalist. He later Gaelicised his name. He aligned with militants like Seán Mac Stíofáin and Seamus Twomey, walking out of the IRA and Sinn Fein to start a new radical movement. There was unionist anger over the scenes at the funeral of senior IRA figure Mr Storey on June 30 last. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ba phoblachtóir Éireannach é Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (rugadh 2 Deireadh Fómhair , 1932 , d'éag 5 Meitheamh , 2013 ). This was to safeguard against possible defections and consequent loss of security when the vote to drop the abstention policy was eventually taken by the Army Convention in September of 1986. By the mid-1970s, however, many militant northern republicans tired of his leadership, and in particular his part in approving a ceasefire which was said to be disastrous for the IRA. Read our full mailing list consent terms here. 1 Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, former President of Sinn Féin, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Republican Army and TD representing Longford/Westmeath, died in June 2013. O Bradaigh had been duped, they argued, into believing that Britain was seriously considering withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh : biography 2 October 1932 – 5 June 2013 Leader of Republican Sinn Féin On 2 November 1986, the majority of delegates to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis voted to drop the policy of abstentionism if elected to Dáil Éireann, but not the British House of … Mark Hennessy . One commentator wrote: "In contrast to the young, confident, self-assured men who made up the new leadership, he looked old-fashioned, desperate: a loser. A former chief of staff of the IRA, Mr O Bradaigh was Sinn Fein president between … In 1955, Ó Brádaigh was part of an IRA squadron that traveled to England and raided a military armory in Berkshire. He put his beliefs into violent practice, most notably as an IRA leader in its most violent period, the early 1970s, and later as political head of one of the dissident republican groups which continue their violence today. O Brádaigh, who died at the age of 80, was a former chief of staff of the IRA in the 1950s, and was a TD (member of Parliament) for Longford/Westmeath from 1957 to 1961. Search for more papers by this author. When the Troubles erupted in the north in 1969 the republican movement split, with O Bradaigh and other veterans taking charge of the larger and more militant faction, the Provisional IRA. He joined Sinn Fein in 1950 and the IRA the following year. And he never did. They seemed to look forward while he looked back. URL: https://alphahistory.com/northernireland/rauiri-o-bradaigh/ —from the foreword by Ed Moloney, author of A Secret History of the IRA At his death in 2013, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh remained a divisive and influential figure in Irish politics and the Irish Republican movement. Jun 6, 2013 - THE former leader of Republican Sinn Fein and one of the founders of the Provisional IRA, Ruairi O Bradaigh, has died at the age of 80. While in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison, Ó Brádaigh was elected to the Dáil Éireann as Sinn Fein’s candidate for Longford-Westmeath. Ó Brádaigh escaped from internment in 1958 and became IRA chief of staff, serving two short terms. —from the foreword by Ed Moloney, author of A Secret History of the IRA . O Bradaigh alleges IRA harassment. In 1998, Ó Brádaigh condemned the Omagh bombing as a “slaughter of the innocents”, later claiming that dissidents in the Real IRA were trying to “take over” Republican Sinn Fein. He was not at all comfortable with today’s Stormontistas, accurately summed up as a reformist clique during one of … Citation information A few years ago when McGuinness denounced dissidents such as him as "traitors," O Bradaigh retorted that he was guilty of treachery. ", The key speech against him came from McGuinness. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, who has died aged 80, was an IRA army council member and emerged from the nationalist movement's realignment of 1969-71 as president of Provisional Sinn Féin.

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