The Five Demands

Tish Murray, moglie del dissidente repubblicano Paddy Murray, scende in campo in difesa del marito.
La donna, rilasciando un’intervista al Sunday Life, respinge con fermezza le speculazioni secondo le quali l’uomo quarantaseienne sarebbe un informatore del Special Branch.
“Non è un informatore, se lo fosse stato lo avrei lasciato il mattino seguente. Quando tornerà a casa affronterà e smentirà tutte le bugie che si sono diffuse intorno a lui.”
Nel 1994 Paddy Murray venne condannato a 25 anni di carcere per possesso di un ordigno. Rilasciato secondo i termini del Good Friday Agreement, iniziò a lavorare per il Sinn Fein. Successivamente prese le distanze dal maggior partito repubblicano e aderì alle file del Real IRA. Nel 2008 venne condannato ad una pena di 4 anni per essere stato giudicato colpevole di sequestro di persona e di aggressione di Kevin Gillen.
Dopo un primo mese trascorso nella prigione di Maghaberry, venne trasferito in un carcere in Inghilterra suscitando i sospetti dei boss del carcere di uno spostamento a scopo di sicurezza, proprio a fronte di una sua collaborazione con le forze di polizia.
Nel febbraio del 2005 furono rilevate le sue impronte su delle bombe incendiare ritrovate in un’abitazione a Ballymena. Murray non venne mai accusato del reato, rafforzando la convinzione tra le file del Real IRA che egli fosse un informatore.
Fondi dissidenti repubblicane hanno dichiarato al Sunday Life, che Paddy Murray potrebbe essere un papabile bersaglio di ritorsioni. Ritorsioni che sembrano non preoccupare la moglie Tish, la quale ha affermato: “Se qualcuno lo definirà un informatore, gli chiederò di dimostrarlo.”
Tish ha anche smentito il fatto che il marito sia stato trasferito in un carcere inglese per motivi di sicurezza personale.
“Era rinchiuso fino 23 ore in una cella a Maghaberry. Aveva chiesto di poter parlare con l’Office Commanding dell’ala repubblicana, ma gli è stato negato. Hanno detto a Paddy che avrebbero potuto spostarlo insieme ai normali criminali e nell’ala dei pedofili.
Ma egli disse loro dove andare così l’unica opzione era quella di un trasferimento in un carcere in Inghilterra”.
Paddy Murray verrà rilasciato il novembre prossimo e tornerà nella sua casa di Antrim.

My man is not a police informer (Sunday Life)
The wife of a suspected Real IRA informant has vowed to stand by her man. Tish Murray told Sunday Life that her husband, convicted bomber Paddy Murray, is moving back to Antrim town in November.
She rubbished reports that the 46-year-old is a high-level Special Branch informant, saying that if he was she would “leave him in the morning”.
The mother-of-three also revealed that Murray has turned his back on politics and wants to lead a quiet life.
“Paddy is coming home to Antrim in November once he finishes his prison sentence in England,” revealed Tish.
“He’s not an informant, if he was I would leave him in the morning. When he gets home he will face down all the lies being spread about him.”
Paddy Murray was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1994 for possession of an IRA bomb. After being released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement he began working for Sinn Fein.
However, he fell out with the party and joined the Real IRA. Murray later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Kevin Gillen and was sentenced to four years in jail in February 2008.
He spent one month in Maghaberry before being secretly moved to a jail in England. Prison bosses were concerned that his life was under threat amid claims he was working as a police informant.
Murray’s fingerprints were on fire-bombs found by police in a Ballymena house in February 2005. He was never charged with any offence, creating suspicion in Real IRA ranks that he was an informant.
Dissident republican sources told Sunday Life that Murray would be a target if he returned to Antrim.
However, the threat of revenge attacks does not worry his wife.
“I’m not worried about the house being attacked when Paddy comes back. If anyone calls him a tout I will ask them to prove it,” said Tish Murray.
Tish also denied claims Murray was moved to an English jail for his own safety. She added: “He was being held in 23-hour lock up at Maghaberry. He asked the screws to talk to the OC of the republican wing to see if he could move there, but they refused.
“They told Paddy they could move him in with the ordinary criminals or on to the paedophile wing.
“But he told them where to go so the only option left was to move him to a jail in England. That’s where Paddy will be for the next few months until he gets out and comes home to me and the kids in Antrim.”