Siobhán O'Hanlon
Encyclopedia
Siobhán O`Hanlon (born in North Belfast
, Northern Ireland
) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army
member and Sinn Féin
official who routinely assisted Sinn Féin president and Member of Parliament Gerry Adams
.
family. Her father, Sam, had been interned and her maternal uncle was IRA Army Council
member Joe Cahill
, who died in July 2004. She spoke of pride in being related to Cahill.
O'Hanlon’s mother, Tess, was seriously injured in one of several loyalist
bomb attacks made on their home. Her brother Rory was shot by loyalists when he was a teenager.
One of her sisters, Eilis O'Hanlon, is a newspaper columnist who is often critical of Sinn Féin, and remained estranged from Siobhán at the time of Siobhán's death.
O'Hanlon married Patrick Sheehan with whom she had a son, Cormac.
in Downing Street
in December 1997. She was heavily involved in Sinn Féin's negotiating team at Stormont
in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement.
In October 2001, she arranged and accompanied Adams on a visit to South Africa
where they met Nelson Mandela
and unveiled a memorial to ten republican hunger strikers who died in Northern Ireland in 1981. The memorial was located at Robben Island Prison where the former African National Congress
leader was jailed.
O’Hanlon was also a member of Sinn Féin’s Belfast Executive and participated in the peace process negotiations in Stormont which is the old Northern Irish government building.
Some British newspapers have accused O’Hanlon of being involved in an attempted Provisional Irish Republican Army
bombing in Gibraltar, prevented by the SAS in Operation Flavius
.
In 2009 Professor Christopher Andrew was given access to MI5's
records to prepare a book for the centenary of the organisation. The book contains a surveillance photo of O'Hanlon taken in Gibraltar in 1988, prior to the shootings of three other IRA members by the SAS. It also contains a map of her movements. The files state that she noticed Spanish intelligence officers following her in Spain and returned to Ireland.
at age 43 having being diagnosed three and a half years earlier. In that time she became a breast cancer activist who organized a conference as a way of bringing activists together to talk about breast cancer, raise awareness and draw attention to the mobile breast cancer screening units.
O'Hanlon also co-founded the West Belfast Festival called Feile an Phobail
and devoted many years to its success, and she performed voluntary work for adults with Down syndrome
.
He eulogized
: "She headed up our office here in West Belfast
. When we think back to that time it was a very dangerous and difficult ... Comrades and friends were killed or wounded. And every day we picked ourselves up and worked on."
Adams dedicated his commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising
to
O'Hanlon.
Danny Morrison for the Daily Ireland
wrote: "We shall benefit from the work Siobhán did in her life - in the freedom struggle, in the peace process, in the bridges she built, the international fraternities she established and maintained, for the goodwill she engendered towards republicanism - and for the huge political enterprises to which she contributed."
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...
, 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...
) was a 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...
member and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
official who routinely assisted Sinn Féin president and Member of Parliament 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...
.
Family
O'Hanlon was born in North Belfast, one of six children of a republicanIrish 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...
family. Her father, Sam, had been interned and her maternal uncle was IRA Army Council
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...
member Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill
Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .- Background :In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West Belfast, Ireland, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly.Cahill...
, who died in July 2004. She spoke of pride in being related to Cahill.
O'Hanlon’s mother, Tess, was seriously injured in one of several loyalist
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...
bomb attacks made on their home. Her brother Rory was shot by loyalists when he was a teenager.
One of her sisters, Eilis O'Hanlon, is a newspaper columnist who is often critical of Sinn Féin, and remained estranged from Siobhán at the time of Siobhán's death.
O'Hanlon married Patrick Sheehan with whom she had a son, Cormac.
Sinn Féin activity
O'Hanlon was a member of the first Sinn Féin delegation to meet the British Prime Minister Tony BlairTony 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...
in Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
in December 1997. She was heavily involved in Sinn Féin's negotiating team at Stormont
Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)
The Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive...
in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement.
In October 2001, she arranged and accompanied Adams on a visit to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where they met Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and unveiled a memorial to ten republican hunger strikers who died in Northern Ireland in 1981. The memorial was located at Robben Island Prison where the former African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
leader was jailed.
O’Hanlon was also a member of Sinn Féin’s Belfast Executive and participated in the peace process negotiations in Stormont which is the old Northern Irish government building.
IRA activity
In 1983 O’Hanlon was jailed after being found in a bomb-making factory. She served four years of a seven-year sentence for explosives offences. She was again arrested in Los Angeles County in 1989, briefly jailed then deported after admitting she concealed her conviction on US immigration forms.Some British newspapers have accused O’Hanlon of being involved in an attempted 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...
bombing in Gibraltar, prevented by the SAS in Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked to prevent a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attack...
.
In 2009 Professor Christopher Andrew was given access to MI5's
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
records to prepare a book for the centenary of the organisation. The book contains a surveillance photo of O'Hanlon taken in Gibraltar in 1988, prior to the shootings of three other IRA members by the SAS. It also contains a map of her movements. The files state that she noticed Spanish intelligence officers following her in Spain and returned to Ireland.
Activism
O'Hanlon died from breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
at age 43 having being diagnosed three and a half years earlier. In that time she became a breast cancer activist who organized a conference as a way of bringing activists together to talk about breast cancer, raise awareness and draw attention to the mobile breast cancer screening units.
O'Hanlon also co-founded the West Belfast Festival called Feile an Phobail
Feile an Phobail
Féile an Phobail , also known as the West Belfast Festival is a community arts organisation known for its August Féile . The organisation is prominent for its promotion of Irish and international culture...
and devoted many years to its success, and she performed voluntary work for adults with Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
.
Tributes
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was a pallbearer at O'Hanlon's funeral which was attended by more than 1000 mourners.He eulogized
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
: "She headed up our office here in West 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...
. When we think back to that time it was a very dangerous and difficult ... Comrades and friends were killed or wounded. And every day we picked ourselves up and worked on."
Adams dedicated his commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
to
O'Hanlon.
Danny Morrison for the Daily Ireland
Daily Ireland
Daily Ireland was an Irish daily newspaper which existed from January 2005 to September 2006 to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. It was linked to the Belfast local newspaper, the Andersonstown News...
wrote: "We shall benefit from the work Siobhán did in her life - in the freedom struggle, in the peace process, in the bridges she built, the international fraternities she established and maintained, for the goodwill she engendered towards republicanism - and for the huge political enterprises to which she contributed."