A FORMER Provisional IRA man who quit the organisation in protest at the political process says dissidents should give up their campaign – because they’re going nowhere.
Kieran Conway was a Dubliner who quit the Provos when the Downing Street Declaration was signed.
The former intelligence officers says the Provos betrayed those fighting for a united Ireland.
Conway, now a solicitor in Dublin, was arrested in Derry in the 1970s and jailed for arms offences. He later went on hunger strike.
But despite being opposed to the Provo political strategy, he says he has no time for dissident groupings.
“They are riddled with informers,” he said.
“Their campaign is utterly futile because it is going absolutely nowhere. If the Provisional IRA couldn’t secure a united Ireland, then they have no hope.
“It’s just damaging their own community and people, sending people to jail for absolutely nothing.”
His book – Southside Provisional: From Freedom Fighter to The Four Courts is published by Orpen press.
Set against the political and military developments of the 1970s, his book chronicles the author’s journey from directionless middle-class law student to committed IRA activist.
It offers detailed accounts of the politics, organisation, training and operational methods of the IRA in the early 1970s, and addresses issues such as the IRA bombing campaign and its response to the loyalist killing of nationalists.
In an interview on RTE radio, Conway says he felt betrayed by Sinn Fein.
“All that sacrifice was for nothing because these republicans accepted partition,” he said.
“I was fighting for a united Ireland, not the maintenance of the UK.”
He said he had recently met Martin McGuinness but had not had a conversation with him.
“The outcome (ceasefire) was one of disappointment as it was not what we fought for. The IRA went on ceasefire, it decommissioned and did all the things they said they would never do and disappeared into history. It was a complete and utter defeat, absolutely,” said Conway.
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