Brian Keenan (Irish republican)
Encyclopedia
Brian Keenan was a former member of the Army Council
of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) who received an 18-year prison sentence in 1980 for conspiring to cause explosions, and played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process
.
, Keenan was brought up in Swatragh
, County Londonderry
, Northern Ireland
before his family moved to Belfast
. As a teenager, Keenan moved to England
to find work, for a time working as a television repairman in partnership with his brother in Corby
, Northamptonshire
. During this time he came to the attention of the police when he damaged a cigarette machine, which led to police having his fingerprints
on file. Keenan returned to Northern Ireland
when the Troubles
began, and started working at the Grundig
factory in the Finaghy
area of Belfast where he acquired a reputation as a radical due to his involvement in trade union
activities.
of the Belfast Brigade
. Keenan was an active IRA member masterminding bombings in Belfast and travelling abroad to make political contacts and arrange arms smuggling
, acquiring contacts in East Germany, Libya
, Lebanon
and Syria
. In 1972 Keenan travelled to Tripoli
to meet with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
in order to acquire arms and finance from his regime, and in early 1973 Keenan took over responsibility for control of the IRA's bombing campaign in England and also became IRA Quartermaster General
.
In early 1974 Keenan planned to break Gerry Adams
and Ivor Bell
out of Long Kesh using a helicopter, in a method similar to Seamus Twomey's
escape from Mountjoy Prison
in October 1973, but the plan was vetoed by Billy McKee
. Keenan was arrested in the Republic of Ireland
in mid-1974, and served a twelve-month prison sentence before being released in July 1975. While being held in Long Kesh, Gerry Adams helped to devise a blueprint for the reorganisation of the IRA, which included the use of covert cells and the establishment of a Southern Command and Northern Command
. As the architects of the blueprint—Adams, Bell and Brendan Hughes
—were still imprisoned, Martin McGuinness
and Keenan toured the country trying to convince the Army Council and middle leadership of the benefits of the restructuring plan, with one IRA member remarking "Keenan was a roving ambassador for Adams". The proposal was accepted after Keenan won support from the South Derry Brigade, East Tyrone Brigade and South Armagh Brigade, with one IRA member saying "Keenan was really the John the Baptist to Adams' Christ".
In December 1975 an IRA unit based in London were arrested following the six-day Balcombe Street Siege
. The IRA unit had been active in England since late 1974 carrying out a series of bombings, and a few months after his release from prison Keenan visited the unit in Crouch Hill
, London
, to brief the unit with further instructions. In follow-up raids after the siege, police discovered crossword puzzles in his handwriting and his fingerprints on a list of bomb parts, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Garda Síochána
informer Sean O'Callaghan
states that Keenan recommended IRA Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey authorise an attack on Northern Ireland's Protestants in retaliation to an increase in attacks on Catholics by loyalists
, such as the killing of three Catholics in a gun and bomb attack
by the Ulster Volunteer Force on Donnelly's Bar in Silverbridge, County Armagh
on 19 December 1975. According to O'Callaghan "Keenan believed that the only way, in his words, to put the nonsense out of the Prods [Protestants] was to just hit back much harder and more savagely than them", and Twomey sanctioned the Kingsmill massacre
, when ten Protestant men returning home from work were ordered out of their minibus, and then killed in a machine gun attack on 5 January 1976. This attack, however, was claimed by the South Armagh Republican Action Force
and not the IRA.
on 20 March 1979 when the Royal Ulster Constabulary
stopped two cars travelling north on the main road from Dublin to Belfast, and was extradited
to England to face charges relating to the Balcombe Street Gang's campaign in England. The capture of Keenan was a blow to the IRA, in particular as he was carrying an address book listing his contacts including Palestinian activists in the United Kingdom
. The IRA responded by despatching Bobby Storey
and three other members to break Keenan out of prison using a helicopter, but all four were arrested and remanded to Brixton Prison. Keenan stood trial at the Old Bailey
in London
in June 1980 defended by Michael Mansfield
, and was accused of organising the IRA's bombing campaign in England and being implicated in the deaths of eight people including Ross McWhirter
and Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
. Keenan was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment after being found guilty on 25 June 1980.
Keenan continued to support Gerry Adams while in prison. In August 1982 Adams was granted permission by the IRA's Army Council to stand in a forthcoming election to the Northern Ireland Assembly
, having been refused permission at a meeting the previous month. In a letter sent from Leicester Prison
Keenan wrote that he "emphatically" supported the move and endorsed the Army Council's decision, saying:
, strategy employed by the Republican movement. After the Northern Ireland peace process
had become deadlocked over the issue of the IRA decommissiong its arms, Keenan and the other members of the Army Council authorised the Docklands bombing which killed two people and marked the end of the IRA's eighteen month ceasefire in February 1996.
Keenan outlined the IRA's position in May 1996 at a ceremony in memory of hunger striker Seán McCaughey
at Milltown Cemetery
, where he stated "The IRA will not be defeated...Republicans will have our victory...Do not be confused about decommissioning. The only thing the Republican movement will accept is the decommissioning of the British state in this country". In the same speech he accused the British of "double-dealing" and denounced the Irish government as "spineless".
In November 1998 Keenan addressed a republican rally in Cullyhanna
, County Armagh
to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of IRA member Michael McVerry
. He stated:
Keenan continued by saying that if republican demands were not met then British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
would be responsible for the consequences, and went on to say:
On 25 February 2001 Keenan addressed a republican rally in Creggan, County Armagh
, saying that republicans should not fear "this phase" of "the revolution" collapsing should the Good Friday Agreement fail. Keenan confirmed his continued commitment to the Armalite and ballot box strategy
saying that both political negotiations and violence were "legitimate forms of revolution" and that both "have to be prosecuted to the utmost". Keenan went on to say "The revolution can never be over until we have British imperialism where it belongs—in the dustbin of history", a message aimed at preventing rank-and-file IRA activists defecting to the dissident Real IRA.
Keenan played a key role in the peace process acting as the IRA's go-between with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
with Gerry Adams remarking "There wouldn't be a peace process if it wasn't for Brian Keenan". Keenan resigned from his position on the Army Council in 2005 due to ill-health, and was replaced by Bernard Fox
, who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
. On 6 May 2007 Keenan was guest speaker at a rally in Cappagh
, County Tyrone
to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the deaths of the "Loughgall Marytrs", eight members of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade killed by the SAS
in 1987.
He died on May 21, 2008 of cancer in Cullyhanna
, South Armagh
.
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) who received an 18-year prison sentence in 1980 for conspiring to cause explosions, and played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
.
Early life
The son of a member of the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, Keenan was brought up in Swatragh
Swatragh
Swatragh is a small village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Swatragh is on the main A29 road north of Maghera. The population was 435 in the 2001 Census....
, County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
before his family moved to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. As a teenager, Keenan moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to find work, for a time working as a television repairman in partnership with his brother in Corby
Corby
Corby Town is a town and borough located in the county of Northamptonshire. Corby Town is 23 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton. The borough had a population of 53,174 at the 2001 Census; the town on its own accounted for 49,222 of this figure...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. During this time he came to the attention of the police when he damaged a cigarette machine, which led to police having his fingerprints
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
on file. Keenan returned to Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
when the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
began, and started working at the Grundig
Grundig
Grundig AG is a German manufacturer of consumer electronics for home entertainment which transferred to Turkish control in 2004-2007. Established in 1945 in Nuremberg by Max Grundig, the company changed hands several times before becoming part of the Turkish Koç Holding group...
factory in the Finaghy
Finaghy
Finaghy is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy...
area of Belfast where he acquired a reputation as a radical due to his involvement in trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activities.
IRA activity
Despite his family having no history of republican tradition, Keenan joined the IRA in 1970 or 1971, and by August 1971 was the quartermasterQuartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
of the Belfast Brigade
Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas, based in the city of Belfast. Founded in 1969, along with the formation of the Provisional IRA, it was historically organised into three battalions; the First Battalion based in the...
. Keenan was an active IRA member masterminding bombings in Belfast and travelling abroad to make political contacts and arrange arms smuggling
Provisional IRA arms importation
The Provisional Irish Republican Army began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into the Republic of Ireland for use in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s...
, acquiring contacts in East Germany, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. In 1972 Keenan travelled to Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
to meet with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
in order to acquire arms and finance from his regime, and in early 1973 Keenan took over responsibility for control of the IRA's bombing campaign in England and also became IRA Quartermaster General
IRA Quartermaster General
The IRA Quartermaster General runs a department which is responsible for obtaining, concealing and maintaining the store of weaponry of the Irish Republican Army....
.
In early 1974 Keenan planned to break Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
and Ivor Bell
Ivor Bell
Ivor Malachy Bell is an Irish republican, and a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who later became Chief of Staff on the Army Council.-IRA career:...
out of Long Kesh using a helicopter, in a method similar to Seamus Twomey's
Seamus Twomey
Seamus Twomey was an Irish republican and twice chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.-Biography:Born in Belfast, Twomey lived at 6 Sevastopol Street in the Falls district...
escape from Mountjoy Prison
1973 Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape
The Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape occurred on 31 October 1973 when three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland, aboard a hijacked Alouette II helicopter, which briefly landed in the prison's exercise yard...
in October 1973, but the plan was vetoed by Billy McKee
Billy McKee
Billy McKee is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Early life:McKee was born in Belfast in the early 1920s, and joined the Irish Republican Army in 1939. During the Second World War, the IRA carried out a number of armed...
. Keenan was arrested in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in mid-1974, and served a twelve-month prison sentence before being released in July 1975. While being held in Long Kesh, Gerry Adams helped to devise a blueprint for the reorganisation of the IRA, which included the use of covert cells and the establishment of a Southern Command and Northern Command
IRA Northern Command
Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland.-IRA:...
. As the architects of the blueprint—Adams, Bell and Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
—were still imprisoned, Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
and Keenan toured the country trying to convince the Army Council and middle leadership of the benefits of the restructuring plan, with one IRA member remarking "Keenan was a roving ambassador for Adams". The proposal was accepted after Keenan won support from the South Derry Brigade, East Tyrone Brigade and South Armagh Brigade, with one IRA member saying "Keenan was really the John the Baptist to Adams' Christ".
In December 1975 an IRA unit based in London were arrested following the six-day Balcombe Street Siege
Balcombe Street Siege
The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England lasting from 6 December to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA volunteers and the release of their two hostages...
. The IRA unit had been active in England since late 1974 carrying out a series of bombings, and a few months after his release from prison Keenan visited the unit in Crouch Hill
Crouch Hill
Crouch Hill is a street in north London, England, running between Crouch End and Stroud Green in the boroughs of Haringey and Islington.The street has a railway station of the same name on the Islington slope of the hill, which is served by the Gospel Oak to Barking line.- The Parkland Walk...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, to brief the unit with further instructions. In follow-up raids after the siege, police discovered crossword puzzles in his handwriting and his fingerprints on a list of bomb parts, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
informer Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who became an informer for the Garda Síochána and who was later debriefed by the UK's MI5 in the Netherlands...
states that Keenan recommended IRA Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey authorise an attack on Northern Ireland's Protestants in retaliation to an increase in attacks on Catholics by loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
, such as the killing of three Catholics in a gun and bomb attack
Robert McConnell (loyalist)
Robert William McConnell , was a Northern Irish loyalist who allegedly carried out or was an accomplice to a number of sectarian attacks and killings, although he never faced any charges or convictions...
by the Ulster Volunteer Force on Donnelly's Bar in Silverbridge, County Armagh
Silverbridge, County Armagh
Silverbridge is a small village in the townland of Legmoylin in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the Newry and Mourne District Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 165 people.- See also :*The Troubles in Silverbridge...
on 19 December 1975. According to O'Callaghan "Keenan believed that the only way, in his words, to put the nonsense out of the Prods [Protestants] was to just hit back much harder and more savagely than them", and Twomey sanctioned the Kingsmill massacre
Kingsmill massacre
The Kingsmill massacre took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Kingsmill in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Ten Protestant men were taken from a minibus and shot dead by a group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force...
, when ten Protestant men returning home from work were ordered out of their minibus, and then killed in a machine gun attack on 5 January 1976. This attack, however, was claimed by the South Armagh Republican Action Force
South Armagh Republican Action Force
The South Armagh Republican Action Force was an alleged Irish republican paramilitary group that was active from 1975 to 1977 during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Its area of activity was mainly the southern part of County Armagh. According to writers such as Ed Moloney and Richard English, it...
and not the IRA.
Arrest and imprisonment
Keenan was arrested on the basis of the 1975 warrant near BanbridgeBanbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
on 20 March 1979 when the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
stopped two cars travelling north on the main road from Dublin to Belfast, and was extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to England to face charges relating to the Balcombe Street Gang's campaign in England. The capture of Keenan was a blow to the IRA, in particular as he was carrying an address book listing his contacts including Palestinian activists in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The IRA responded by despatching Bobby Storey
Bobby Storey
Robert "Big Bobby" Storey is an Irish republican from Belfast, Northern Ireland.He spent in total 20 years in jail, almost all on remand charges. He also played a key role in the Maze prison escape, which was the biggest prison break in British penal history.-Early life:The family was originally...
and three other members to break Keenan out of prison using a helicopter, but all four were arrested and remanded to Brixton Prison. Keenan stood trial at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in June 1980 defended by Michael Mansfield
Michael Mansfield
Michael Mansfield QC is an English barrister. A republican, vegetarian, socialist, and self-described "radical lawyer", he has participated in prominent and controversial court cases and inquests involving accused IRA bombers, the Bloody Sunday incident, and the deaths of Jean Charles de Menezes...
, and was accused of organising the IRA's bombing campaign in England and being implicated in the deaths of eight people including Ross McWhirter
Ross McWhirter
Alan Ross Mayfield McWhirter , known as Ross McWhirter, was, with his twin brother, Norris McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to Record Breakers...
and Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
Gordon Hamilton Fairley DM, FRCP was a professor of medical oncology. Born and raised in Australia, he moved to the United Kingdom where he studied and worked. He was killed by an IRA bomb intended to kill Sir Hugh Fraser....
. Keenan was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment after being found guilty on 25 June 1980.
Keenan continued to support Gerry Adams while in prison. In August 1982 Adams was granted permission by the IRA's Army Council to stand in a forthcoming election to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982
The Northern Ireland Assembly established in 1982 represented an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to restore the devolution to Northern Ireland which had been suspended 10 years previously. The Assembly was abolished in 1986.-Origins:...
, having been refused permission at a meeting the previous month. In a letter sent from Leicester Prison
Leicester (HM Prison)
HM Prison Leicester is a local men's prison, located in the Southfields area of Leicester, Leicestershire, England. The term 'local' means that the prison holds people on remand to the local courts, as well as sentenced prisoners...
Keenan wrote that he "emphatically" supported the move and endorsed the Army Council's decision, saying:
It is not enough for Republicans to say, with reference to the Army [IRA], actions speak louder than words. We must never forsake action but the final war to win will be the savage war of peace. To those of us who have struggled for years in a purely military capacity, it must be obvious that if we do not provide honest, recognisable political leadership on the ground, we will lose that war for peace.
Peace process
Keenan was released from prison in June 1993 and by 1996 was one of seven members of the IRA's Army Council. Following the events after the IRA's ceasefire of August 1994 he had been openly critical of Gerry Adams and the "tactical use of armed struggle", or TUASTuas
Tuas is largely an industrial zone located in the western part of Singapore. The Tuas Planning Area is located within the West Region, and is bounded by Tengeh Reservoir to the north, Strait of Johor to the west, Straits of Singapore to the south, and the Pan Island Expressway to the east.It is...
, strategy employed by the Republican movement. After the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
had become deadlocked over the issue of the IRA decommissiong its arms, Keenan and the other members of the Army Council authorised the Docklands bombing which killed two people and marked the end of the IRA's eighteen month ceasefire in February 1996.
Keenan outlined the IRA's position in May 1996 at a ceremony in memory of hunger striker Seán McCaughey
Seán McCaughey
Seán McCaughey was an Irish Republican Army leader in the 1930s and 1940s, and hunger striker....
at Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 and there are now approximately 200,000 of Belfast's citizens buried there. Most of those buried there are...
, where he stated "The IRA will not be defeated...Republicans will have our victory...Do not be confused about decommissioning. The only thing the Republican movement will accept is the decommissioning of the British state in this country". In the same speech he accused the British of "double-dealing" and denounced the Irish government as "spineless".
In November 1998 Keenan addressed a republican rally in Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies on the main road between Newtownhamilton and Crossmaglen. It had a population of 306 in the 2001 Census...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of IRA member Michael McVerry
Michael McVerry
Michael McVerry , was a Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and Officer Commanding of the First Battalion of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade. He was killed in Keady in 1973....
. He stated:
I can categorically state the only time the IRA will decommission, we will decommission in agreement with a government of national democracy, a government that derives from the first Dáil. That's when we will decommission—never, ever before...Everybody's saying: 'The prisoners are being released, what's your problem?' Well there's no prisoner was ever in jail to be let out to sell out the struggle and I'm sure none of them would want to be let out if this struggle wasn't going the whole way.
Keenan continued by saying that if republican demands were not met then British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
would be responsible for the consequences, and went on to say:
So in the future maybe the jails are going to be full again...If our enemies don't want peace, there can only be one conclusion: they must want war. We don't want to go back to that. But let there be no mistake: if we don't get equality and if the reasons for conflict are still there...then the waiting time will soon draw to a close and republicans will once again have to do anything that is necessary to get a Republic, because that's the goal.
On 25 February 2001 Keenan addressed a republican rally in Creggan, County Armagh
Creggan, County Armagh
Creggan is a small village and townland near Crossmaglen in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 246 people. It lies within the Newry and Mourne District Council area.- Places of interest :...
, saying that republicans should not fear "this phase" of "the revolution" collapsing should the Good Friday Agreement fail. Keenan confirmed his continued commitment to the Armalite and ballot box strategy
Armalite and ballot box strategy
The Armalite and ballot box strategy was a strategy pursued by the Irish republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s in which elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were contested by Sinn Féin, while the IRA continued to pursue an armed struggle against the British Army, the...
saying that both political negotiations and violence were "legitimate forms of revolution" and that both "have to be prosecuted to the utmost". Keenan went on to say "The revolution can never be over until we have British imperialism where it belongs—in the dustbin of history", a message aimed at preventing rank-and-file IRA activists defecting to the dissident Real IRA.
Keenan played a key role in the peace process acting as the IRA's go-between with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.-Legislation and organisation:...
with Gerry Adams remarking "There wouldn't be a peace process if it wasn't for Brian Keenan". Keenan resigned from his position on the Army Council in 2005 due to ill-health, and was replaced by Bernard Fox
Bernard Fox (Irish republican)
Bernard Fox is a former member of the Army Council of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike....
, who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
. On 6 May 2007 Keenan was guest speaker at a rally in Cappagh
Cappagh
Cappagh is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Pomeroy, Ballygawley, Galbally and Carrickmore, with the hamlet of Galbally about one mile to the east...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the deaths of the "Loughgall Marytrs", eight members of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade killed by the SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
in 1987.
He died on May 21, 2008 of cancer in Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies on the main road between Newtownhamilton and Crossmaglen. It had a population of 306 in the 2001 Census...
, South Armagh
South Armagh
South Armagh can refer to:*The southern part of County Armagh*South Armagh *South Armagh...
.