Gerry Bradley Remembered

“I’m not another Denis Donaldson!” ~ Gerry Bradley ~

This is an Obituary written by The Pensive Quill on former PIRA Volunteer, Gerry Bradley, and co-author with veteran Irish historian, Brian Feeney, of ‘Insider: Gerry Bradley’s life in the IRA.’

Gerry Bradley’s publication of his memoirs became a highly contentious and thorny issue within the Irish Republican collective. So much so that he and his family were subject to intimidation in their native North Belfast, which extended to graffiti calling him a ‘Tout’ being dubbed on walls.

However, there was not complete castigation from the Irish Republican movement and several high profile Republicans were quick to stand by their former comrade including former Hunger Striker, Gerard Hodkins, who said:

Gerry Bradley's mistake was he wrote a book without going to them and asking their permission … If you wanted to write a book, they would expect to be presented with a copy for them to censor before it goes to publication.

Fellow PIRA volunteer turned writer, Richard O’Rawe, was also quick to jump to Bradley’s defence and publicly show his support stating:

You have to ask yourself - are they (the leadership) the only ones allowed to write books? Is history never to be recorded properly? It's no coincidence that Gerry felt compelled to write his book. And bear in mind, Gerry Bradley put no one in prison

Whether we agree with former PIRA volunteers writing their memoirs we MUST not forget that there was a 40 year ‘Dirty War’ waged here. Whilst such books may be viewed by some as revealing trade secrets, opportunistic, self-serving etc, are we in a position to judge?

We must candidly ask ourselves do WE have the right to deny future generations of Irish Republicans access to the truth surrounding events, the ability to analysis those events, and hence the opportunity to learn from any mistakes?

"Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul." ~ Mark Twain~

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Posted in: Gerry Bradley,sinn fein