Tommy Crossan Dead, Continuity IRA, Dissident Republicans, Real IRA

Tommy Crossan Shoot Dead

The former Belfast commander of the hardline anti-peace process paramilitary group, the Continuity IRA, has been shot dead in the city.

Tommy Crossan, 44, was killed near the Peter Pan light industrial complex on Springfield Road in Belfast at around 4.45pm on Friday.

Martin McGuinness said of the shooting: “The people behind this murder are criminals, drug dealers and informers and will further no cause through this cowardly act. Whoever carried out this act has nothing to offer the community and have no role to play in our future they should be shunned and handed over to the PSNI.”

The murdered man, who comes from the west of the city, served six years in Maghaberry top security prison a decade ago for a CIRA gun attack on a police station in Belfast.

Local nationalist SDLP councillor Colin Keenan, who lives near the scene of the shooting, condemned those behind the murder.

"I was on the scene shortly after this tragic event and I extend my heartfelt sympathy to the victim's family. We have long hoped that the shadow of death had been lifted from west Belfast. Today's event is a terrible, tragic reminder of the violent conflict of the past," Keenan said.

Details about the murder are still sketchy but it comes at a time of rising tensions among dissident republicans who are embroiled in a violent internal power struggle.

Declan Fat Deccy Smith shoot dead

Last week a former CIRA killer, Declan "Fat Deccy" Smith, was buried in his native Belfast after being assassinated outside a Dublin creche at the end of March.

Smith had been blamed for the double killing of two rival republican dissidents, Eddie Burns and Joseph Jones, who were murdered in 2007 in Belfast. Jones had been tortured and beaten to death with a spade over a dispute about the seizure of weapons and the control over the republican faction.

In a statement from the Continuity IRA's leadership on Friday, the terror group singled out a number of former members whom they accused of "criminal activity perpetrated in the name of the republican movement".

Referring to an attempted coup four years ago against the CIRA command, the organisation said: "The treachery of 2010 was a carefully planned attempt to arrest and destroy the republican movement as it exists today in the continuing defence of the Irish Republic proclaimed at the GPO Dublin in 1916. These people have failed and the criminal conspirators they have left in their wake shall dissipate."

And in a warning to its rivals, the paramilitary organisation added: "There will be other attempts to raise issues of contention ranging across diverse matters, for example principles, structures, authority, democracy, discipline and many others into the future. That said nobody is going to put the republican movement in their pocket and walk away to self-serve, for in doing so they will be turning away from the principles which sustain this movement and which are the ultimate guarantee of our success."

In 2000 Crossan was serving 10 years for conspiracy to murder RUC officers following a gun attack on a police station in west Belfast in 1998. He led a prison protest for political status in Maghaberry and at one stage spent 23 hours a day locked in his cell as punishment for refusing to do prison work.

In an interview Crossan was defiant about "armed struggle" continuing despite rising support for Sinn Féin and the peace process.

He said: "I am confident that the armed struggle will go on outside here and that, sadly, will mean more of my comrades being jailed and sent into this place. The bigger we get, the harder it will be for the authorities to treat us as criminals."

The CIRA was formed after splits in Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) in 1986. However, it was mainstream Sinn Féin's decision to sign up to non-violence principles during all-party talks in the run up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that finally prompted Crossan to leave the Provisional IRA.

In a bitter attack on Sinn Féin, Crossan told the Observer: "Bobby Sands [the IRA hunger striker and MP] is one of my great heroes … I was 10 when he died, that's when I became interested in republicanism but everything he fought for has been sold out. Prisoners like him died for political status, and now it's being taken away from republicans at a time Sinn Féin are doing something they vowed they would never do – sit in a Stormont government."

There are at least two factions within the CIRA: the mainstream organisation loyal to its Dublin leadership, whose main base remains around North Armagh, and a rival faction started by disgruntled republicans from Limerick with a few members in Belfast which has been in violent dispute with the main group.

The CIRA is the most hardline of the armed groups opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process. It was responsible for the 2009 murder of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon. He was the first officer of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to be killed by republican paramilitaries.

Members of the security forces have been on high alert for attacks by various extremist factions who have also killed two soldiers and a prison officer.

In recent weeks they have stepped up efforts to kill police officers, with several attacks on the force in west Belfast.

After the murder of prison officer David Black on the M1 motorway in November 2012, police mounted an unprecedented surveillance operation against various factions as well making significant arrests.

Dissident republicans, The IRA, PSNI, Gun Attack, Fermanagh Attack

Dissident republicans, The IRA, PSNI, Gun Attack, Fermanagh Attack

Dissident Republicans are being linked with a gun attack on the PSNI station in Lisnaskea in Co.Fermanagh last night.

First reports suggested nobody was injured in the incident.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore condemned what he called a "deplorable act by terrorists".

Mr Gilmore said he extended solidarity to the PSNI officers and staff of the station who were targeted in a cold-bloded manner.

The Northern Ireland Justice MinisterDavid Ford condemned the attack, saying those behind it have "nothing positive to offer".

Local Assembly member Arlene Foster said the PSNI station had been attacked by automatic gunfire and described it as "reckless".

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank-and-file officers, tweeted: "Officers escape death when dissident republicans attack Lisnaskea station with gunfire. Cowardly and futile. Terrorism will never prevail."

Colin Duffy, The IRA, Dissident Republicans, PSNI

Colin Duffy, The IRA, Dissident Republicans, PSNI

Leading dissident republican Colin Duffy's arrest on IRA membership charges came after months of surveillance by a specialist police team investigating up to a dozen killings linked to both the PIRA and the IRA lead by Colin Duffy.

The Irish Observer can reveal that the unit was set up in the wake of the November 2012 killing of prison officer David Black by The IRA which Colin Duffy, 46, was arrested and questioned about.

Since the M1 motorway shooting the Lurgan-based republican has been under 24-hour watch from the PSNI and MI5.

And at least 12 PIRA related killings, some of which Duffy has previously been publicly connected to, are currently being re-examined by cops.

These include the 1998 IRA abduction and killing of cigarette smuggler Kevin Conway in Aghalee.

Last Wednesday Garyy Marshall, 45, appeared in Craigavon Magistrates' Court charged with killing Conway.

The dad of four was shot dead because he tried to muscle-in on an PIRA illegal cigarette racket in Lurgan's Kilwilkie estate.

Marshall — the man charged with the execution — is a close pal of Duffy, who was with his brother Sam Marshall when he was murdered by loyalists in 1990.

Before freeing Gary Marshall on bail totalling £6,000 the court heard there was “new forensic evidence” linking him to the case.

The specialist PSNI unit which has been monitoring Colin Duffy is still investigating him for the Conway killing.

Experienced detectives drafted into the team have spent the past 12 months reviewing the original exhibits and forensic evidence.

The fresh probe was sparked after last year’s exposure that Colin Duffy's name was all over Special Branch intelligence files that identified him as one of Conway's killers.

The documents were made public during the inquiry into the 1999 murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson by the LVF. The high-profile lawyer acted on behalf of Colin Duffy until she lost her life in a brutal car-bomb.

One intelligence document written by detectives in 1998 about the Kevin Conway murder states: “Colin Duffy organised and participated in the abduction and murder”.

Another reveals: “Conway was working for PIRA in the importation/distribution of cigarettes. He recently crossed Duffy over profits gained from these ventures.”

Small-time criminal Conway was babysitting his 14-week-old son when he was taken from his home in Lurgan's fiercely republican Kilwilkie estate in February 1998.

He was brought to a derelict building near Aghalee and blasted in the head.

Because the horrific execution took place two months before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement anyone convicted of it will have to serve just two years in prison. A dozen other IRA killings that occurred between 1989 and 1997 are being re-examined by specialist cops who are also investigating Colin Duffy.

They all took place in the greater Lurgan area and include:

The killings of gun-store owner Roy Metcalfe, and UDR men Colin McCullough and Iain Warnock;

The 1990 Lough Neagh duck-hunting killings in which four friends, two of whom were off-duty cops, were gunned down;

The killing the same year of RUC reservist Wilfred Wethers;

The fatal 1997 attack on policemen John Grahamm and David Johnstonn in Lurgan;

The killings of Catholics Denis Headley and Ian Lyons in the town;

A security source with knowledge of the Duffy surveillance team said: “He had become a creature of habit over the past number of months.

“Sometimes he would stay overnight at addresses in the Ardoyne area and other times he would drive back to Lurgan.

“Surveillance teams from MI5 and the Army’s Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRS) were watching his every move.”

Our source explained how Colin Duffy would regularly use a park to meet with his closest friends.

The insider added: “As a result, the PSNI, MI5 and SRS decided they needed to hear what he was talking about.

“Up to a dozen high-powered listening devices were secretly planted overnight in the park.

“They were strategically placed at various points around the park so they could listen in on his conversation. “Everything he talked about was picked up on the microphones, recorded and transcribed.’’

As well as mounting an unprecedented surveillance operation on Colin Duffy the specialist PSNI team probing his activities has also been looking at his friends.

Among this group are former IRA blanket-man Alex McCrory, 52, and 45-year-old republican Harry Fitzsimmons.

McCrory is often seen by Duffy's side and was photographed with him during a parade protest in Ardoyne last year. Riots broke out later that evening.

He was also pictured with him during the summer at the funeral of Republican Sinn Fein and Continuity IRA Chief Ruairi O'Bradaigh.

Last Tuesday McCrory and Fitzsimmons appeared in the dock of Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with attempting to murder members of the PSNI in a gun attack on the city's Crumlin Road earlier this month.

They are also accused of possession of a gun with intent to endanger life.

Along with Duffy, shaven-headed McCrory and Fitzsimmons are charged with conspiracy to possess firearms and explosives with intent to endanger life, conspiracy to murder and IRA membership.

All three refused to stand-up during proceedings at Belfast Magistrates' Court and were remanded in custody.

New IRA have assault rifles

A new IRA assault rifle recovered by cops after a failed murder bid in north Belfast earlier this month was one of six smuggled into the North by The IRA.

The Irish Observer can reveal that leaders of The IRA group recently purchased six ‘clean’ Kalashnikov-style weapons to use in a fresh campaign.

The first time a gun from the batch was used was in Ardoyne on December 5 when a New IRA member opened fire on a police patrol travelling up the Crumlin Road.

In his panic to escape he dropped the prized machine-gun which was later recovered by police.

This blogger understands that a second Kalashnikov hidden in a house nearby was also discovered during follow-up searches.

A security source said: “Intelligence indicates that the New IRA has recently acquired a batch of high-powered rifles to use in a new campaign.

“Two have been recovered, but a further four are believed to be out there.”

Belfast republicans Alex McCrory, 52, and Harry Fitzsimmons, 45, appeared in court last Tuesday charged with possessing the gun used in the December 5 Ardoyne attack.

They were remanded in custody along with IRA Chief Colin Duffy, 46, who is accused of IRA membership and conspiracy to murder members of the security forces.

Leading dissident republican Colin Duffy's arrest on IRA membership charges came after months of surveillance by a specialist police team investigating up to a dozen killings linked to both the PIRA and the IRA lead by Colin Duffy.

Seamus McKenna, Continuity IRA, accident, dissident republicans, omagh bomb, sean mckenna, real ira

Seamus McKenna, Continuity IRA, accident, dissident republicans, omagh bomb, sean mckenna, real ira

New: Sean McKenna, Autobiography: Voice from the Grave

Seamus McKenna Funeral

17/7/2013: Thousands of Irish Republicans are gathering this morning for the funeral of Vol. Seamus McKenna, republicans from across Ireland have gathered in south Armagh and north Louth, to say farewell to a dedicated and staunch republican. The funeral has begun at the home of McKenna’s son Sean in the Armagh village of Silverbridge. The funeral procession will travel across the border to St Mary’s Church, Ravensdale for mass at 11am, with burial afterwards in the church cemetery.

Teams of uniformed and armed gardaí set up checkpoints on approach roads around 1km around Ravensdale and searched cars making their way to the funeral at St Mary’s Church. Gardaí also questioned mourners, took personal details and requested ID from many of those attending. The Garda Dog Unit is also at the scene and reinforcements from the Public Order Unit in Leinster Area are on standby. A Garda Helicopter is monitoring the funeral.

16/7/2013: Gardai are concerned that attempts will be made by dissident republican groups to stage a paramilitary display at Seamus’s funeral in Ravensdale, Dundalk, tomorrow. His remains were removed last night to his son's home from a funeral home in his native Silverbridge, Co Armagh. Seamus McKenna was born in Monaghan, and lived in Clara in North Monaghan until he was a teenager. The family then moved to O’Neill Avenue in Newry and later Seamus moved to Silverbridge and then Dundalk.

Seamus McKenna RIP 13/7/2013 (Sad news received after the article below was written)

Seamus McKenna, Óglaigh na hÉireann, has been seriously injured after falling from a school roof while working in County Louth. McKenna has been a life-long republican and member of the IRA, McKenna never faltered in his dedication to the Irish Republican Army and that dedication was within the ranks of the Continuity IRA since 1986, although Seamus would have assisted anyone opposed to the British occupation. Seamus is, at the time of writing, on a life support machine.

In 2003 Seamus was found in possession of 1,200Lb bomb near Dundalk and sentenced to six years in Portlaoise Prison, while the DPP appealed the sentence handed down, the Court of Criminal Appeal found that the sentence was appropriate due to McKenna’s previous lack of convictions.

Seamus McKenna's Father, Sean McKenna Snr was interned and tortured in 1970 and, both Sean and other men who had been interned and tortured would have their inhumane treatment declared as such by the European Commission (Now The European Court of Human Rights).

Seamus McKenna was named in a civil action taken by the families of victims of the Omagh bomb, however, the case against Seamus McKenna was dismissed and no evidence was adduced to secure either civil or criminal conviction. McKenna was named as allegedly one of the Real IRA team which transported the Omagh bomb into the County Tyrone town in August 1998. Twenty nine people, including the mother of unborn twins, were killed in the blast while hundreds more were badly injured.

A couple of weeks back when life-long republican Ruairi O Bradaigh was buried, Seamus reflected on the time that Sean McKenna Snr had been buried in Clara in North Monaghan, and Ruairi had given the oration. On that day Sean Jnr (who was on the run) had been preparing to fire a volley of shots over his Father’s coffin with his Father’s personal colt 45 revolver when he was attacked by agents of the state, the gun that Sean was carrying, went off and his uncle Patsy McKenna was shot in the leg by accident. 

Tragic Death of Sean McKenna

December, 2008

In December 2008 IRA Volunteer Sean McKenna died suddenly and goes now to rest after a life of dedication to the cause of Irish Freedom. Sean McKenna served many long hard years in Long Kesh and other British hell holes. When released from prison Sean McKenna was frail, having been on hunger strike and then being subjected to institutional torture in Long Kesh. 

Sean sought work with his cousin Vincent McKenna in Monaghan Mushrooms, and was happy working long hard hours to pay his way in the world. Sean later moved to his loved County Kerry, a county he truly enjoyed.

Sean McKenna died in 2008 at his home in Dundalk. Sean never fully recovered from his ordeal on the first H-Block hunger strike in 1980 which lasted for fifty three days. Sean was buried on Monday, 22nd December 2008, in Calvary cemetery, Ravensdale, County Louth, after Requiem Mass in nearby St Mary’s Church.

Republicans from across Ireland, including many former prisoners and surviving hunger strikers, attended the funeral.

Vol. Sean McKenna had been illegally arrested, along with his Father, and hundreds of others, by the British army on 9^th August, 1970. His father was one of the ‘hooded men’ and died whilst in his early forties as a result of being tortured. Father and son were both interned in Long Kesh. After his release Sean returned to active service but lived in County Louth at Edentubber.

On 12th March 1976 members of an SAS undercover team crossed the border and abducted Sean, again illegally, without any protest from the Dublin government at the breach of its sovereignty. Sean was sentenced in a Diplock Court and was on the blanket for several years prior to the hunger strike.

It was later alleged that the SAS who had kidnapped Sean McKenna was led by the infamous Captain Niarac, who was later executed by the IRA and his body never recovered. However, Sean McKenna was not able to confirm that Niarac was involved in his illegal kidnapping.

Below: Extract from soon to be published Autobiography of Vincent McKenna:

"The British Army also fell foul of the Catholic population when they were involved in rounding up thousands of innocent Catholics and interning them without trial. The vast majority of these people would never have supported terrorism; however, the internment camps became the recruiting ground of the IRA. Recent history reminds us that the British have learned little from their mistakes, to win a war you must win hearts and minds; you don’t achieve that through inhumanity and brutality. My Uncle Sean McKenna and his son Sean Jnr were interned without trial. The European Commission would later make findings that my Uncle Sean and his comrades were tortured by the British, Uncle Sean was one of the men who famously became known as the 10 Hooded Men, due to the fact that the British placed hoods on their heads while torturing them".

Internees Being taken onto the Maidstone Prison Ship

INTERNMENT

It was early morning on the 9^th of August 1970 that British soldiers launched operation Demetrius, the introduction of internment without trial. Internment had been employed by the Unionist Government at Stormont in every decade since the creation of the northern state as a means to suppress Republican opposition. In the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s republican suspects had been imprisoned without trial. As violence increased in 1970 the Unionist Government again came under increasing pressure to clamp down on the activities of the IRA. By August 1970 the Stormont Government had convinced the British Government that internment offered the best method of dealing with the increasing violence, and pointed to its repeated success in previous decades. In an attempt to reduce the expected nationalist outrage a ban on all parades was announced at the same time, aimed at defusing the potential for unrest that the Apprentice Boys parade on the 12th August posed.

The arrests were based on outdated lists containing 450 names provided by the RUC Special Branch; the British Army swept into nationalist areas of the north and arrested 342 men. The RUC intelligence, however, was hopelessly outdated and many of those arrested had no connections with the IRA. Others, although Republican minded, had not been active in decades. Others arrested included prominent members of the Civil Rights movement. In one instance in Armagh the British Army sought to arrest a man who had been dead for the past 4 years. It appears that the rapid radicalisation of much of the north’s nationalist community, and the RUC’s alienation from that community in the previous 2 years, had created a large intelligence gap in RUC files. Indeed, so out of date were the lists that within 48 hours 116 of those arrested were released. The remainder were detained at Crumlin Rd prison and the prison-ship The Maidstone.

No Loyalists were arrested in the operation, despite the fact that the UVF had been active since 1966. The first Protestant internees were not arrested until 2nd February 1973.

The Nationalist/Catholic community was outraged. This anger was reinforced when news of the treatment of the internees, particularly 11 men, including Sean McKenna, who became known as the "hooded men" became public. This anger took the form of increased support for the IRA and the commencement of a campaign of civil disobedience that enjoyed overwhelming support within the nationalist community.

Concern from the public at the treatment of many of the internees led to the establishment of the Compton Commission, which reported in November 1971. This report concluded that whilst detainees had suffered ill treatment this did not constitute brutality or torture. Incidents of ill treatment included:

·     In-depth interrogation with the use of hooding, white noise, sleep deprivation, prolonged enforced physical exercise together with a diet of bread and water.

·         Deceiving detainees into believing that they were to be thrown from high flying helicopters, in reality the blindfolded detainees were thrown from a helicopter that hovered approximately 4 feet above the ground.

·         Forcing detainees to run an obstacle course over broken glass and rough ground whilst being beaten by British soldiers.

The botched arrests and stories of brutality escaping from the internment centres and the reintroduction of internment, which was viewed as a form of communal punishment and humiliation, unleashed a wave of violence across the north, with practically no military gains to offset the impact internment had on the entire nationalist community.

In Belfast the IRA held a press conference on the 13th August at which Joe Cahill, the Officer Commanding the IRA in Belfast, claimed that internment had had no noticeable effect on IRA structures and the campaign would continue. The statistics add weight to his words. In the remainder of August 1971 35 people were killed, 1 more than the total for the previous 7 months, and c. 7,000 Catholic families had fled across the border. By the year’s end 139 people had been killed since the introduction of internment.

Non-violent opposition to internment  was marked by a number of rallies and marches were planned. On Christmas Day 1971 c. 4,000 protestors attempted to march from Belfast to Long Kesh. This march was blocked before reaching its destination on the M1 motorway and dispersed. On the 22nd January another protest march took place at Magilligan Strand, not far from Derry City.

This protest was blocked by the British Army and dispersed with violence, in which members of the Parachute Regiment were prominent. The next anti-internment rally was planned for Derry, on Sunday 30th January 1972.

Dissident republicans, The IRA, Navan Arrests, weapons, Meath Gardai, Louth Gardai

Dissident republicans, The IRA, Navan Arrests, weapons, Meath Gardai, Louth Gardai

Three men and a woman have been arrested by gardaí investigating dissident republican activities in the Border area.

A 49-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman were arrested in Castlebellingham on Monday while a 30-year-old man was arrested in Navan a short time later.

Another man, aged 38, was arrested in Navan on Tuesday.

Three houses in Drogheda, Navan and Castlebellingham were searched in connection with the investigation as was a commercial premises in Navan. A number of vehicles and a 9mm hand gun were seized.

The three men remain in custody this morning. The woman has been released without charge.

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Funeral, republican sinn fein, continuity ira, dissident republicans

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Funeral, republican sinn fein, continuity ira, dissident republicans

Gardaí and mourners clashed at the funeral of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh today. In 1975 Ruairi O Bradaigh (RIP) gave the graveside oration at the funeral of IRA Commander, Sean McKenna in Clara graveyard in north Monaghan, the scene’s today at the funeral of Ruairi O Bradaigh were reminiscent of that shameful day.

Shortly after the coffin bearing the remains of the former president of Republican Sinn Féin was carried into St Coman’s cemetery in Roscommon town, gardaí in riot gear confronted mourners.

Officers were involved in a standoff for several minutes with some mourners which had accompanied the funeral procession on the route from the Church to the cemetery.

Over a dozen uniformed gardaí had surrounded the grave before the funeral procession arrived at the cemetery while members of the Emergency Response Unit had walked alongside the funeral procession as it continued from the Sacred Heart church to the graveyard.

While the funeral Mass was characterised by typical tributes to a loved father grandfather, teacher and neighbour , the Republican’s final journey to the cemetery outside the town was a more tense affair.

At the end of the mass his son Conchúr had criticised the “heavy handed and provocative” way the funeral had been policed and he appealed for the funeral procession be allowed proceed to the cemetery with the dignity “and the honour he is due as a Republican leader”.

Mourners had been told that there was “not a sectarian bone” in Ó Brádaigh’s body and his son pointed out that he was being laid to rest in the Protestant section of the cemetery alongside his wife’s family.

At the beginning of the Mass, Ó Brádaigh’s grandchildren carried a number of his possessions , including his glasses, his walking stick and book of poetry to the altar to symbolise different facets of his life.

Parish priest Fr Eugene McLoughlin told the congregation that while Ó Brádaigh was known by many people for his republican ideals he was also a devoted husband and father and a loving grandfather.

He had longed for a united Ireland where there would be employment or all and where the weaker members of society would be cared for and where there would be a strong Gaelic culture, said the priest.

He added that “sadly we have moved a long way from these lofty ideals” with many young people forced to emigrate and the gap between rich and poor widening.

There was tension as mourners walked behind the coffin in the blazing sun to the cemetery with some stewards wearing armbands of green white and gold and men clad in black trousers white shirts and black berets, most of them wearing Easter lilies appearing to object to the strong Garda presence.

At the cemetery mourners became angry as gardaí surrounded the grave and there were jeers and shouts for respect for the family.

After some jostling officers were pushed back and gardaí in riot gear raised shields and briefly confronted those involved in the melee.

Calm was restored after the “stewards” appealed to mourners to turn their backs to gardaí and form a circle to keep them from the grave.

Gardaí remained at the scene long after the graveside orations were delivered.

The president of Republican Sinn Féin, Des Dalton, who gave a graveside oration condemned what he described as disgraceful scenes at the funeral.

He said there had been total and complete disrespect shown to the family by forces of the State. “Even in death that same State fears him today”, he said to cheers.

Among the mourners were former trade union official Phil Flynn, the Republican Rose Dugdale, former Fianna Fáil junior minister Michael Finneran and sitting Fine Gael TD for Roscommon South Leitrim deputy Frank Feighan. The chief mourners were Mr Ó Brádaigh’s widow Patricia (Patsy) his children Mait, Ruairi Og, Deirdre, Conchúr, Eithne and Colm and his grandchildren.

The funeral is taking place in Roscommon this afternoon of veteran republican Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

Plain-clothed and uniformed Gardaí maintained a strong presence in Roscommon town last night as they monitored the 80-year-old true Republican’s removal.

Scores of mourners lined the street as the Longford-born former TD, internee and Republican Sinn Féin founder and president was taken from Smyth’s Funeral Home shortly after 8pm.

A lone piper led the procession where Republican Sinn Féin members dressed in black trousers, white shirts and black ties marched in step beside his tricolour draped coffin.

Gardaí, who had deployed two armed response units, several unmarked cars and a number of marked units, walked along with the cortege as it travelled through Roscommon to the Sacred Heart Church, where several more officers were waiting.

Monsignor Charles Travers spoke of a man with a “passionate love for our country” which Mr Ó Brádaigh was prepared to “sacrifice for.”

“The two words that I have heard uttered to describe Ruairí over the last few days were that he was a man of conviction and a person of integrity, a man of honour,” he told the congregation.

“This present love for country was not confined to country, it was shared even more fully with his beloved wife Patsy and his family,” Msgr Travers said.

“Ruairí had all the facets of life that were special to him, he gave generously of himself without counting the cost, whatever the cost may be,” he added.

Msgr Travers offered his deepest sympathy to Mr Ó Brádaigh’s wife Patsy, children Mait, Ruairí Óg, Deirdre, Conchúr, Eithne and Colm, brother Seán and extended family and friends.

Mr Ó Brádaigh will be buried in St Coman’s Cemetery this afternoon following 11.30am Requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Roscommon.