I met Capt James Kelly, who died last week, on the 12 November 1999 at the annual dinner of the 1916-21 Club. The dinner was held in a former British Army Barracks, now the Irish Defence Force Headquarters, in Dublin. Whereas British Flags and symbols once adorned the building, Irish flags now bedeck the entrance while ancient cannons stand guard outside.
During the meeting ballots were sold with one of the prizes being Capt Kelly's book The Thimble Riggers his account of the Arms Trials and events over thirty years ago. I was always fascinated by these events and was keen to get a copy of the book. As it happened James Kelly won the ballot and with it his own book.
He was aware that I wanted a copy so he immediately inscribed it and gave it to me.
In 1970 Capt Kelly faced charges along with Irish Government Ministers in relation to the illegal importation of arms for the north. He never denied involvement but claimed he acted on orders from superiors and ultimately from the Defence Minister and Taoiseach Jack Lynch. Lynch, however, appears to have been restraining the enthusiasts in his cabinet who promoted a risky line on the north. Today Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says Capt Kelly "honourably served the interests of his country", had been "acquitted of all charges" and, "as far as the State is concerned, he was innocent of those charges".
He added that Kelly had "acted on what he believed were the proper orders of his superiors", thus implying a question about the true origin of these orders.
The early forays by Irish agents into Northern Ireland and what, perhaps wrongly, sounded to unionist ears like threats from Jack Lynch sent shudders through loyalism. Not only did rumours of gunrunning and arming the IRA filter through to the streets of Belfast, but reports surfaced about meetings with the socialist leadership of Cathal Goulding's IRA. Attempts were made to split the republican movement, end the socialist rhetoric and confine violence to Northern Ireland.
The result was the formation of the Provisional IRA with an Englishman John Edward Drayton Stevenson (Sean MacStiofain) as head of intelligence and first chief of staff. A campaign of ruthless violence was initiated from which we have yet to recover. Jack Lynch had called for UN intervention but some Ministers wanted to go further and initiate an Irish Army invasion of Northern Ireland to raise the political temperature, create an "international incident" and force the UN to intervene.
Tension was heightened ensuring that loyalists would step up preparations to resist and this also seems to have encouraged murderous attacks on northern nationalists and eventually upon Dublin. Driving near the border in 1969 I saw the Irish Army on manoeuvres and wondered if these were army field hospitals as claimed by Irish authorities, or preparations for an invasion.
The whole sequence of events has never been adequately explained but just as elements within the British authorities appear at times to stoop to the level of terrorists so too did elements within the Irish state, or perhaps the Government itself if we were to believe Capt James Kelly. He insisted that he acted under the aegis of the properly constituted authorities but there is an alternative view that Jack Lynch was at that time unaware of the full extent of conspiratorial activities by his right wing Ministers and agents who were spoiling for a fight. Even yet we have not fully relinquished the gun from Irish politics.
As republicans said, 'When those who make the law, break the law then there is no law'. We sink to the law of the jungle and if enough people engage in terrorism this has the same result. People easily find justification for violence in Ireland because its real origin is clouded in the mists and myths of time while deep historical resentments remain to fuel aggression.
This often means that our violence is diverted towards easily identified scapegoats. Those who feel that blame can be ascribed exclusively to one or other side, group or state deal in myths. Quarrelling human beings frequently seek out supposedly wicked people or groups who are easily demonised and upon whom they can perpetrate violence with a clear conscience.
The Christian gospel insists we are always wrong when we thus victimise. Like Hitler, scapegoaters have little time for democracy because they convince themselves of their own righteousness and demonise and exclude those with whom they differ.
Ultimate attempts to exclude take place in the killing fields in which murder begets murder. In the words of American poet Howard Nemerov, "murders become memories, and memories become the beautiful obligations" so the cycle will continue until we come to our senses.
