Seán Garland
Seán Garland | |
---|---|
General Secretary of the Workers' Party (Ireland) | |
In office 1977–1990 | |
Preceded by | Máirín de Burca and Seán Ó Cionnaith (joint tenure) |
Succeeded by | Des Geraghty |
Personal details | |
Born | Dublin, Ireland | 7 March 1934
Died | 13 December 2018 County Meath, Ireland | (aged 84)
Seán Garland (7 March 1934 – 13 December 2018) was the President of the Workers' Party in Ireland from 1977 to 1999.
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 Army as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in Armagh and supplied it to the IRA in Dublin.[1] 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.[1] He became a full-time IRA training officer.
On 1 January 1957 at the beginning of the IRA
Garland returned to IRA service on his release and was sent to
From Sinn Féin to the Workers' Party
In the 1960s, Garland became a
On 1 March 1975 in
In 1999 Garland was allegedly observed visiting the North Korean embassy in Moscow. It was subsequently alleged that he visited to collect forged U.S. 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.[5][6] 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".[7][8][9]
Garland was the Workers' Party representative at the National Forum on Europe. In 2000, he was elected president of the Workers' Party.
Involvement with KGB
In 1988 Sean Garland asked the
Extradition fight
On 7 October 2005, Garland was arrested in
A campaign was then launched against the U.S. extradition attempt.[15] 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.[16]
On 9 October 2005, a Sunday Times article alleged that Garland became
On 1 December, the
Garland was subsequently arrested in Dublin in 2009 and the application by the U.S. to extradite him was heard in 2011.[19]
The campaign against his extradition continued, bringing in a number of prominent individuals from outside the Workers' Party including its Honorary Chairman
On 21 December 2011, Justice John A. Edwards in the High Court dismissed the U.S. application for Garland's extradition. Justice Edwards told the court he was not disposed to grant the application and would furnish his reasons for doing so later.[21]
On 27 January 2012, Justice Edwards stated that since the offence for which the U.S. wanted to extradite was regarded as having been committed in the Republic of Ireland the Court was prohibited from extraditing Garland. He was therefore obliged to refer the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions who would consider whether there was a case for prosecuting Garland in Ireland.[22]
On 29 May 2012, Garland spoke at the funeral of his comrade Noel Cullen, alongside Cullen's son Jake. Noel Cullen was a key figure in The Workers Party who died of cancer at the age of 52. Garland spoke on his friend's passion, humanity, and quest for knowledge before handing Jake and Noel's daughter Ríona a starry plough, and an Irish flag.[23]
Works
- Ireland and the Socialist Countries (1986)
- Cathal Goulding: Thinker, Socialist, Republican, Revolutionary, 1923 - 1998 (1999)
References
- ^ a b Hanley and Miller, p. 9
- ^ "History". Archived from the original on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008. Interview with Garland on Downtown Radio, August 2007
- ^ "workerspartyireland.net". ww12.workerspartyireland.net. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008.
- ^ Hanley and Miller, p. 18
- ^ "US says North Korea forged dollars". BBC News. 13 October 2005. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ "Press Releases". Archived from the original on 14 October 2005. Retrieved 13 October 2005.
- ^ Kealy, Willie (18 August 2002). "Workers' Party boss linked to counterfeit 'super dollars'". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "City banks target of fake dollars fraud". Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "The Super Dollar Famous Fakes and Frauds". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "The Bukovsky Archives, 6 January 1989*". Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Gage, Bill. "Former Secret Service Agent Bill Gage: Counter Assault Team and counterfeiters, Ep. 89". YouTube.
- ^ "Leader of Irish Workers' Party and Official Irish Republican Army Leader of Irish Workers' Party and Official Irish Republican Army Arrested in United Kingdom on U.S. Indictment Charging Trafficking in Counterfeit United States Currency" (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice. 8 October 2005. Archived from the original on 14 October 2005.
- ISBN 978-0-06-199850-8.
- ^ BBC US says N Korea forged dollars Archived 12 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine 13 October 2005
- ^ "seangarland.org". www.seangarland.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
- ^ "Latest Briefing". Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007. briefing No.1 point 5
- ^ Liam Clarke Garland arrested in US forgery hunt Archived 23 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine 9 October 2005
- ^ "workerspartyireland.net". ww12.workerspartyireland.net. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Garland accused in counterfeit notes plot". RTÉ.ie. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "seangarland.org". www.seangarland.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010.
- ^ Kavanagh, Brian (22 December 2011). "Garland 'delighted' as extradition to US denied". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
- ^ Gavan Reilly. "DPP to examine whether Garland should be prosecuted in Ireland". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "Oration by Sean Garland at funeral of Comrade Noel Cullen". workerspartyireland.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
Sources
- Hanley, Brian, and Millar, Scott (2009). The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Dublin: Penguin Ireland.