Robert W. White - Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary

Ruair Brdaigh

Ruair Brdaigh

THE LIFE AND POLITICS OF AN IRISH REVOLUTIONARY

ROBERT W. WHITE

FOREWORD BY ED MOLONEY

Indiana
University
Press

This book is a publication of

Indiana University Press

Office of Scholarly Publishing

Herman B Wells Library 350

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

iupress.indiana.edu

First paperback edition 2020
2006 by Robert W. White

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-253-34708-4 (hardback)

ISBN 978-0-253-04829-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-253-04832-5 (ebook)

1 2 3 4 5 25 24 23 22 21 20

In memory of my mother,
Margaret Mary Hanrahan White,
and my father,
Howard Christy White

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION

T O BEGIN , I want to thank Jennika Baines and Indiana University Press for going forward with a paperback edition of Ruair Brdaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary . A decade after he stepped down as president of Republican Sinn Fin and more than five years after he passed away, Ruair Brdaigh and his politics remain important for anyone seeking to understand the Irish Republican Movement since the mid-1950s. It is impossible to fully appreciate where Provisional Sinn Fin is today without understanding where they were at the beginning, and Ruair Brdaigh was there at the beginning. Starting with the split in 1986 and lasting for more than twenty-five years, he was the key person involved in laying the ideological and organizational foundation for the many different contemporary Republicans who reject the path taken by the Provisionalsthe Dissidents.

Contrary to what some reviewers have suggested, this was never an official or authorized biography. As noted in the acknowledgments and elsewhere, in interviews, conversations, and correspondence, Ruair Brdaigh provided facts and opinions and then let me form my own conclusions. He offered no objection when it became clear that my conclusions would be informed by the perspectives of a variety of people, including his political opponents. His approach to the project and to life in general was shaped by the strength of his own convictions, a willingness to listen to others, and an open-minded, unassuming self-assuredness that is sadly lacking in most political figures, in Ireland and elsewhere.

I again thank the many different people who helped with this biography. In addition, special thanks go to Lta N Chathmhaoil, Des Dalton, Marisa McGlinchey, Anthony McIntyre, Dieter Reinisch, and Cit Trainor for comments and suggestions, and for taking the time to answer my many different questions. Finally, I want to thank Ted Polley of the IUPUI University Library for help with tracking down the quotation from Voltaire.

RWW

Indianapolis

October 2019

A CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF RUAIR BRDAIGH (RB)