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Brendan Hughes

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Brendan "The Dark" Hughes (b. 1958, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish republican and former Operations Commander of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

Background

Hughes was born into a republican family from the Lower Falls Road area of Belfast and was a cousin of Charles Hughes who was the OC of D Company in the Belfast Brigade during the Falls Curfew and was shot and killed by a member (volunteer) from the Official Irish Republican Army in March 1971.

Republican activity

Hughes joined the IRA in 1969 and was "on the run" in Belfast by 1970. From 1970-1972, Hughes was involved in a number of attacks on British soldiers and bank robberies in order to raise funds for the republican movement. On 19 July, 1973 Hughes was arrested on the Falls Road along with Gerry Adams and Tom Cahill, and was sent to Long Kesh. Hughes soon escaped inside a rolled up mattress in the back of a dustcart, and fled across the border to Dublin. He returned to Belfast after assuming a new identity, becoming a travelling toy salesman named Arthur McAllister. For five months Hughes lived in Myrtlefield Park near Malone Road, and was believed to be the new leader of the IRA in Belfast. On 10 May, 1974 Hughes was arrested following a tip-off, and the house was found to contain a submachine gun, four rifles, two pistols and several thousand rounds of ammunition. Hughes was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Hunger strike

Hughes was the leader of the 1980 hunger strike. Against the wishes of the IRA Army Council, on 27 October 1980, Hughes along with six other republican prisoners, including John Nixon and Tommy McKearney, refused food and started a hunger strike.

During the second month of the hunger strike the British government lead by Margaret Thatcher, sent an intermediary to inform Hughes of a possible compromise, despite previously having publicly rejecting any compromise.

Hughes had promised one of the hunger strikers, Sean McKenna, that if he slipped into a coma that he would end the hunger strike and as McKenna was on the verge of death, Hughes found himself in a dilemma. Hughes assumed that the compromise was in good faith and ended the hunger strike after 53 days. However, when the document arrived at the prison, there was disappointment at the final position of the British government.

Bobby Sands took over as leader of the republican prisoners in the Maze during this hunger strike.

Criticism of Sinn Fein leadership

Hughes has been critical of the Sinn Fein leadership for allowing building firms in west Belfast to pay low wages to former prisoners and that the republican leadership had sold out on their ideals in order to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.

References

  1. ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. pp. 156-157. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. Ibid., pp. 58, 79.
  3. Unknown.“Brendan Hughes” Socialist Review 2006-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  4. Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. pp. 160-162. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. Hunger Strikes and Death of Bobby Sands BBC Website. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  6. Brendan Hughes. “Risking the Lives of Volunteers is Not the IRA Way” Irish News 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  7. John Cunningham (6 May, 1981). "How the IRA manufactured a new martyr". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-02-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. David Sharrock. “Ex-IRA leader attacks Adams” The Daily Telegraph 2004-03-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  9. Malachi O'Doherty.“Hungry for a new Republican agenda” Belfast Telegraph 2001-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
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