Patrick Fox takes issue with Anthony McIntyre’s praise for Gerry Bradley’s Insider (Fortnight 471) and questions the usefulness of personal Troubles memoirs
Deep breaths of shock were drawn in republican north Belfast when word got out that 'Whitey' Bradley had released a book about his life in the IRA. The word was that he had named names and that former comrades were beating a path to his door to express their dissatisfaction with his betrayal.
But, as is the case with most of these exposés, the shock came more from the hype than the content. Most of the revelations were mere confirmations of issues that had been in the public domain for many years. Most of the exposed are long dead or have been jailed already for their participation in the actions outlined. The back cover of the book highlights 7 'new revelations' but in truth none of them would be new to the British security establishment or anyone who was worried about having been compromised. The 'plot to assassinate Brian Faulkner' is little more than the expression of an intention to do so. Without more specifics of who and when and where this and the other claims are about, this is poor sensationalist fare.
Given the lack of credible detail required to make a true exposé, one would have to ask why Bradley risked the wrath of his former colleagues by releasing an unauthorised memoir. To answer this we need look no further than to some of the quotes from within the book. As the plot changes from his own actions to his views of the latter day republican strategy, it becomes clear that he was not a part of the republican think-tank who devised the road to peace. At times his thoughts disclose a cumbersome political and strategic naivety that would have dictated his omission from the republican leadership. He states that, 'From 1982 the campaign was being run down, I know that now. Over the years, all the resources were switched to the political side' The 'I know that now' almost 30 years later shows how far he had been from the thinking of the leadership of the organisation he had represented for so long. Bradley appears to resent having been side-lined.
Bradley writes: 'In 1971 it wasn't republicans in the third battalion: it was the people'. This may appear to have been the statement of a bold, socialist revolutionary. In fact it portrays the fact that Bradley did not go to war but had war delivered to him. This was not a highly politicized young man who bore arms to support a cause, but a foot soldier that was the right age at the right time to defend his local area. He had subsequently been consumed into a political conflict which appears to have been beyond his comprehension and, at the end of which, he felt lost. His dreams of a full British withdrawal and the raising of the Irish flag over Belfast have not been delivered.
Modern armies have support functions in place for soldiers who enjoy extensive home leave away from the battlefield. Gerry Bradley's war was fought in and around his home. There was no leave. Most soldiers fight in a few campaigns and retire to another career and are supported in this adjustment – usually with a pension in place. Bradley fought on his own streets for over 30 years. At the end of his 'service' there was neither pension nor support. In fact there wasn't even a result. There were no campaign medals to show for it, no victory parades or coming home celebrations.
This book was written, it would appear, with a deep feeling of disenchantment with the republican leadership, the current political reality in Ireland and Bradley's life after the conflict. It feels very much like the statement of someone who feels the need to declare publicly that he was proud of what he had fought for – a 'for the record' production. It oozes a sense of injustice felt by someone who dedicated so many years of his life to a cause and has been sold short. We feel that Gerry Bradley regularly faces modern life with the question, "is this what I fought for?"
Strange as it seems Bradley has in many ways supported the outcome of his conflict. He bemoans the loss of his youth, the loss of life and the injustices throughout the conflict. Very few of today's youth have to face these issues. Time has moved on and most people have moved on with it. To many the detail of the conflict is already lost and in this regard Insider will sit alongside the reams of literature produced that will help future generations determine what really happened during the Troubles. One must however question the value of these personal memoirs and the standing of the genre within the context of the historical significance.
December 25, 2010
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This article appeared in the October/November 2010 edition of Fortnight.
