The Five Demands

Ex membro del Provisional IRA ha dichiarato alla giornalista Suzanne Breen di aver partecipato ad una riunione dove era presente Padre James Chesney

Si tratta della prima conferma repubblicana quella riportata dal Sunday Tribune in un’intervista ad un ex attivista del Provisional IRA.
“Come molti altri, si unì in seguito che un’ondata di rabbia per come i manifestanti per i diritti civili ‘erano stati trattati. Fu profondamente influenzato dall’introduzione dell‘internamento (9 agosto 1971, ndr)”, ha dichiarato l’ex provos che avrebbe incontrato Padre Chesney in occasione di una riunione a Bellaghy.
“Non era solo un repubblicano a parole. Egli non aveva paura di sporcarsi le mani”, continua il veterano dell’IRA che però non è in grado di confermare il coinvoltimento di Padre Chesney nell’attentato di Claudy (31 luglio 1972) perchè all’epoca dei fatti era incarcerato.

Related Articles

• Priest defends church over Claudy (bbc.co.uk)
• RUC ‘prevented’ Fr Chesney arrest (bbc.co.uk)
• Claudy bombing: Father Chesney, the ‘Provo Priest’ (guardian.co.uk)
• Claudy: forgotten no longer (sluggerotoole.com)
• Claudy bombing: answers, please (liberalconspiracy.org)
• Report on Claudy bomb attack due (bbc.co.uk)
• Claudy bombing: Catholic Church denies cover-up over IRA bomb attack (telegraph.co.uk)
• Claudy bombings cover-up revealed in police report (guardian.co.uk)
• The Cover-Up of a Priest’s Alleged Role in IRA Terror (time.com)
• Daly sceptical over Claudy claims (bbc.co.uk)
• Inquiry into Claudy IRA bombing ‘cover-up’ to be published (telegraph.co.uk)
• Report: Cover-up in 1972 NIreland Bombing (abcnews.go.com)

Senior ex-Provisional confirms Fr James Chesney was in IRA (Sunday Tribune)
A senior ex-IRA member in Derry has told the Sunday Tribune how he attended IRA meetings with Fr James Chesney, the priest accused of involvement in the Claudy bombing in which nine people were killed.
It is the first confirmation from a republican source that Chesney was an IRA activist. Last week, the police ombudsman’s report named the priest as a suspect in the atrocity.
RUC special branch alleged he was the Provisionals’ South Derry commander and drove the lead bomb car into Claudy. However, given special branch’s history, many nationalists are suspicious of its claims.
The former senior IRA figure said Chesney was definitely an IRA member: “Like many others, he joined following that wave of anger at how civil rights’ marchers were treated. He was deeply affected by the introduction of internment.”
The ex-IRA man attended a meeting in Bellaghy, Co Derry, at which Chesney was present. He was “very impressed” with Chesney: “He wasn’t just a verbal republican. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.”
The ex-Provisional was in jail at the time so he doesn’t know if Chesney played a role in the bombing.
In 1973, the Catholic Church moved the priest to Malin Head, Co Donegal. The former IRA man claimed Chesney was instrumental in setting up a training camp in the area which was used right up until the 1994 ceasefire.
Former IRA chief of staff Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said the priest had denied involvement in Claudy to him.
“Fr Chesney approached me in 1979 in Sligo after I’d addressed a H-Block rally. He said there were rumours that he was involved in Claudy but he had nothing to do with it and was on holiday in Donegal at the time of the bombing.”
Meanwhile, Deputy First Minister Martin Mc­Guinness, who was the IRA’s Derry OC at the time of the bomb, has been urged to be honest with bereaved families.
“The names of the senior republicans involved… are common knowledge. These individuals must do the decent thing and tell the families the full truth,” said SDLP councillor Brenda Stevenson. “As a party in government, Sinn Fein must live up to its responsibilities. Letting it all hang on Fr Chesney who is dead is the cowardly way out.”
Asked to comment, Sinn Féin said McGuinness was on holiday. “Martin McGuinness wasn’t mentioned in the Claudy report so anyone asking questions clearly has an agenda,” a spokesman said.
A senior ex-IRA member in Derry has told the Sunday Tribune how he attended IRA meetings with Fr James Chesney, the priest accused of involvement in the Claudy bombing in which nine people were killed.
It is the first confirmation from a republican source that Chesney was an IRA activist. Last week, the police ombudsman’s report named the priest as a suspect in the atrocity.
RUC special branch alleged he was the Provisionals’ South Derry commander and drove the lead bomb car into Claudy. However, given special branch’s history, many nationalists are suspicious of its claims.
The former senior IRA figure said Chesney was definitely an IRA member: “Like many others, he joined following that wave of anger at how civil rights’ marchers were treated. He was deeply affected by the introduction of internment.”
The ex-IRA man attended a meeting in Bellaghy, Co Derry, at which Chesney was present. He was “very impressed” with Chesney: “He wasn’t just a verbal republican. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.”
The ex-Provisional was in jail at the time so he doesn’t know if Chesney played a role in the bombing.
In 1973, the Catholic Church moved the priest to Malin Head, Co Donegal. The former IRA man claimed Chesney was instrumental in setting up a training camp in the area which was used right up until the 1994 ceasefire.
Former IRA chief of staff Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said the priest had denied involvement in Claudy to him.
“Fr Chesney approached me in 1979 in Sligo after I’d addressed a H-Block rally. He said there were rumours that he was involved in Claudy but he had nothing to do with it and was on holiday in Donegal at the time of the bombing.”
Meanwhile, Deputy First Minister Martin Mc­Guinness, who was the IRA’s Derry OC at the time of the bomb, has been urged to be honest with bereaved families.
“The names of the senior republicans involved… are common knowledge. These individuals must do the decent thing and tell the families the full truth,” said SDLP councillor Brenda Stevenson. “As a party in government, Sinn Fein must live up to its responsibilities. Letting it all hang on Fr Chesney who is dead is the cowardly way out.”
Asked to comment, Sinn Féin said McGuinness was on holiday. “Martin McGuinness wasn’t mentioned in the Claudy report so anyone asking questions clearly has an agenda,” a spokesman said.