Seán Garland
Encyclopedia
Seán Garland is a former President of the Workers' Party
in Ireland.
as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in Armagh
and supplied it to the IRA in Dublin. This enabled the IRA to carry out a successful arms raid on 12 June 1954, with Garland's active involvement on the base. Garland deserted from the British army in October of the same year, before his regiment was due to depart for Kenya
. He became a full-time IRA training officer.
On 1 January 1957 at the beginning of the IRA Border Campaign
, he led the unsuccessful attack on Brookeborough
Royal Ulster Constabulary
barracks in which his associates Seán South
and Fergal O'Hanlon
, both the subjects of well-known republican
ballad
s, were shot and fatally wounded. Under fire, Garland carried South on his shoulders in an unsuccessful attempt to save his friend's life. Seriously wounded, he was subsequently hospitalised for a number of weeks and was then jailed in Mountjoy Prison
. In November 1957, while in Mountjoy, Garland was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dublin North Central
by-election. Upon his release, he was interned in the Curragh
, but was released in 1959.
Garland returned to IRA service on his release and was sent to Belfast
to liaise with the then largely inactive units in the city. He was arrested while trying to return to Dublin and sentenced in November 1959 to four years in Crumlin Road jail where he subsequently became officer commanding (O.C.) of the IRA prisoners.
and Tomás MacGiolla
. During the 1969/70 IRA split, Garland supported the moves to abandon abstentionism
and was a key figure in Official Sinn Féin (as national organiser) and Official Irish Republican Army (as Adjutant-General). The Official IRA was openly involved in shootings and bombings of military and civilian targets but declared a ceasefire
in May 1972. Despite this, the Official IRA continued to carry out shootings and robberies during the 1970s and was engaged in a number of feuds with the Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA).
On 1 March 1975 in Ballymun
, Dublin, Garland survived an INLA assassination attempt while returning home with his wife Mary to his Ballymun home. He was badly wounded in the attack. In 1977, Garland was elected general secretary of Official Sinn Féin. In the same year, he successfully proposed that the party be renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party. In 1982, he proposed that the prefix Sinn Féin be dropped from the party name to become simply The Workers' Party
.
In 1986, as general secretary of the Workers' Party, he addressed a letter to the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
which requested one million US dollars in aid for his party. On a number of occasions from 1997 to 2000 Garland was allegedly observed visiting the North Korea
n embassy in Moscow
along with some ex-KGB
officers. It was subsequently alleged that he visited to collect forged US dollars
which, with the help of associates, would be transported to Dublin and Birmingham
where the notes would be exchanged for pounds
or authentic dollars. The US authorities announced that this scheme, which they said involved several international crime syndicates and transactions worth millions of dollars, had been uncovered in "Operation Mali". and began with a tip-off about a man named Alan Jones.
Seán Garland was the Workers' Party representative at the National Forum on Europe
. In 2000, he was elected president of the Workers' Party.
on foot of an extradition
application issued by the US authorities. He had been attending the Workers' Party Ardfheis/Annual Conference at the time. The United States authorities allege that Garland has been involved in the distribution and resale of counterfeited US dollars - so-called "superdollar
s" - in 1998. They also allege that the source of the banknotes was the government of North Korea
. Garland was released on bail
. His supporters claimed the U.S. waited for Garland to travel north of the Irish border before seeking his extradition, believing the United Kingdom
authorities would be more willing to acquiesce than those in the Republic of Ireland
. In June 2007 the Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday speculated that there was evidence that the affair was a US plot to provide a pretext for a military attack on North Korea
On 9 October 2005, a Sunday Times article alleged that Garland became chief of staff of the largely inactive Official IRA in 1998.
On 1 December, the High Court in Belfast issued a warrant for Garland's arrest after he failed to appear for an extradition hearing. On 1 April 2006, Garland was unanimously re-elected as President of The Workers' Party and in a keynote address to the party membership gathered in Dublin he vowed to fight any attempt to extradite him to the United States. In 2008 he announced his intention to retire from the presidency and was replaced in the position on 17 May 2008 by Mick Finnegan
. Garland remains a member of the party's Central Executive Committee and is its National Treasurer.
Garland was subsequently arrested in Dublin in 2009 and the application by the U.S. to extradite him was heard in 2011.
Following Garland's initial arrest in Belfast in 2005 a campaign was launched against the US extradition attempt. This was relaunched subsequent to his arrest in Dublin in 2008 and has been actively fighting the extradition campaign. It has brought in a number of prominent individuals from outside the Workers' Party including its Honorary Chairman the Rev. Chris Hudson
and has sought and received support from numerous political figures from across the spectrum in Ireland, the United Kingdom and further afield. Among these are dozens of members of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament), MEPs and local politicians. Garland also received support from the entertainment industry including musicians Pete Seeger
, Christy Moore
, Alabama 3
and John Spillane
.
Garland's supporters point out that the 77-year-old has been diagnosed from a number of serious medical conditions including diabetes and bowel cancer.
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
in Ireland.
Early Life
Born at Belvedere Place, off Mountjoy Square in Dublin, Garland joined the Irish Republican Army in 1953. In 1954, he briefly joined the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
and supplied it to the IRA in Dublin. This enabled the IRA to carry out a successful arms raid on 12 June 1954, with Garland's active involvement on the base. Garland deserted from the British army in October of the same year, before his regiment was due to depart for Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. He became a full-time IRA training officer.
On 1 January 1957 at the beginning of the IRA Border Campaign
Border Campaign (IRA)
The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
, he led the unsuccessful attack on Brookeborough
Brookeborough
Brookeborough is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies between Enniskillen and Belfast just off the A4 trunk road, about five miles from the County Tyrone boundary....
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...
barracks in which his associates Seán South
Seán South
Seán South was a member of an IRA military column led by Sean Garland on a raid against a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland on New Year's Day, 1957...
and Fergal O'Hanlon
Fergal O'Hanlon
Feargal O'Hanlon Feargal O'Hanlon Feargal O'Hanlon (Irish: Feargal Ó hAnnluain (b. 2 February 1936, Ballybay, County Monaghan, Ireland – d. 1 January 1957, Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) was a member/volunteer in the Pearse Column of the Irish Republican Army....
, both the subjects of well-known republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s, were shot and fatally wounded. Under fire, Garland carried South on his shoulders in an unsuccessful attempt to save his friend's life. Seriously wounded, he was subsequently hospitalised for a number of weeks and was then jailed in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
. In November 1957, while in Mountjoy, Garland was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dublin North Central
Dublin North Central (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin North–Central is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies...
by-election. Upon his release, he was interned in the Curragh
Curragh
The Curragh is a flat open plain of almost 5,000 acres of common land in County Kildare, Ireland, between Newbridge and Kildare. This area is well-known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the famous Japanese Gardens. Also...
, but was released in 1959.
Garland returned to IRA service on his release and was sent 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...
to liaise with the then largely inactive units in the city. He was arrested while trying to return to Dublin and sentenced in November 1959 to four years in Crumlin Road jail where he subsequently became officer commanding (O.C.) of the IRA prisoners.
From Sinn Féin to the Workers' Party of Ireland
In the 1960s, Garland became a Marxist and was one of a generation of IRA leaders who attempted to lead the organisation away from violence and into left-wing political agitation. He worked closely in this with figures like Cathal GouldingCathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...
and Tomás MacGiolla
Tomás MacGiolla
Tomás Mac Giolla was an Irish politician. He was a Teachta Dála and a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Workers' Party of Ireland.-Early life:...
. During the 1969/70 IRA split, Garland supported the moves to abandon abstentionism
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
and was a key figure in Official Sinn Féin (as national organiser) and Official Irish Republican Army (as Adjutant-General). The Official IRA was openly involved in shootings and bombings of military and civilian targets but declared a ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
in May 1972. Despite this, the Official IRA continued to carry out shootings and robberies during the 1970s and was engaged in a number of feuds with the Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA).
On 1 March 1975 in Ballymun
Ballymun
Ballymun is an area on Dublin's Northside close to Dublin Airport, Ireland. It is infamous for the Ballymun flats, which became a symbol of poverty, drugs, alienation from the state and social problems in Ireland from the 1970s...
, Dublin, Garland survived an INLA assassination attempt while returning home with his wife Mary to his Ballymun home. He was badly wounded in the attack. In 1977, Garland was elected general secretary of Official Sinn Féin. In the same year, he successfully proposed that the party be renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party. In 1982, he proposed that the prefix Sinn Féin be dropped from the party name to become simply The Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
.
In 1986, as general secretary of the Workers' Party, he addressed a letter to the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
which requested one million US dollars in aid for his party. On a number of occasions from 1997 to 2000 Garland was allegedly observed visiting the North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n embassy in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
along with some ex-KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
officers. It was subsequently alleged that he visited to collect forged US dollars
Superdollar
A superdollar or superbill is a very high quality counterfeit United States one hundred-dollar bill, alleged by the U.S. Government to have been made by an unknown organization or government. Various groups have been suspected of creating such notes, and international opinion on the origin of the...
which, with the help of associates, would be transported to Dublin and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
where the notes would be exchanged for pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
or authentic dollars. The US authorities announced that this scheme, which they said involved several international crime syndicates and transactions worth millions of dollars, had been uncovered in "Operation Mali". and began with a tip-off about a man named Alan Jones.
Seán Garland was the Workers' Party representative at the National Forum on Europe
National Forum on Europe
The National Forum on Europe was established by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD, in the aftermath of the rejection of the Treaty of Nice by the Irish people in 2001...
. In 2000, he was elected president of the Workers' Party.
Extradition fight
On 7 October 2005, Garland was arrested in BelfastBelfast
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...
on foot of an extradition
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...
application issued by the US authorities. He had been attending the Workers' Party Ardfheis/Annual Conference at the time. The United States authorities allege that Garland has been involved in the distribution and resale of counterfeited US dollars - so-called "superdollar
Superdollar
A superdollar or superbill is a very high quality counterfeit United States one hundred-dollar bill, alleged by the U.S. Government to have been made by an unknown organization or government. Various groups have been suspected of creating such notes, and international opinion on the origin of the...
s" - in 1998. They also allege that the source of the banknotes was the government of North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. Garland was released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. His supporters claimed the U.S. waited for Garland to travel north of the Irish border before seeking his extradition, believing 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...
authorities would be more willing to acquiesce than those 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 June 2007 the Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday speculated that there was evidence that the affair was a US plot to provide a pretext for a military attack on North Korea
On 9 October 2005, a Sunday Times article alleged that Garland became chief of staff of the largely inactive Official IRA in 1998.
On 1 December, the High Court in Belfast issued a warrant for Garland's arrest after he failed to appear for an extradition hearing. On 1 April 2006, Garland was unanimously re-elected as President of The Workers' Party and in a keynote address to the party membership gathered in Dublin he vowed to fight any attempt to extradite him to the United States. In 2008 he announced his intention to retire from the presidency and was replaced in the position on 17 May 2008 by Mick Finnegan
Mick Finnegan
Mick Finnegan is the President of the Workers' Party of Ireland having been elected to that position on 17 May 2008 at the party's Ard Fheis / Annual Delegate conference to replace Sean Garland who retired after ten years in the position....
. Garland remains a member of the party's Central Executive Committee and is its National Treasurer.
Garland was subsequently arrested in Dublin in 2009 and the application by the U.S. to extradite him was heard in 2011.
Anti-Extradition Campaign
Chris Hudson
Christopher Reshard Hudson is a former professional American football safety who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons between 1995 and 2001. Hudson was the winner of the 1994 Jim Thorpe Award as a member of the Colorado Buffaloes.-References:...
and has sought and received support from numerous political figures from across the spectrum in Ireland, the United Kingdom and further afield. Among these are dozens of members of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament), MEPs and local politicians. Garland also received support from the entertainment industry including musicians Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
, Alabama 3
Alabama 3
Alabama 3 are a British band mixing rock, dance, blues, country, and gospel styles, founded in Brixton, London, in 1995. In the United States, they are known as A3, allegedly to avoid any possible legal conflict with the country music band Alabama...
and John Spillane
John Spillane
John Spillane is a singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland. He graduated from University College Cork with a degree in Irish and in English.-Background:Spillane grew up in the Cork suburb of Bishopstown, in a large family of boys...
.
Garland's supporters point out that the 77-year-old has been diagnosed from a number of serious medical conditions including diabetes and bowel cancer.
Sources
- Hanley, Brian, and Millar, Scott (2009). The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Dublin: Penguin Ireland.
External links
- BBC article: what is a superdollar?
- BBC article: Leader of 'Official IRA' in forgery plot
- Transcript of BBC TV Show, Panorama
- Workers' Party president in counterfeit probe - RTÉRTERTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
News article - Arrest warrant for party leader - BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
News article