John Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly forMid Ulster | |
| In office 25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003 | |
| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Geraldine Dougan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Kelly (1936-04-05)5 April 1936[1] Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 6 September 2007(2007-09-06) (aged 71) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse | Philomena Kelly |
| Children | Bronagh Kelly |
John Kelly (5 April 1936 – 6 September 2007) was anIrish republican politician in Northern Ireland. He joined theIrish Republican Army in the 1950s, and was a founder member and a leader of theProvisional Irish Republican Army in the early 1970s.
John Kelly was born inBelfast,County Antrim, in 1936. Later in life he moved toMaghera,County Londonderry, where he lived until his death in 2007. He and his wife had a daughter. He was a dedicated member of localGaelic Athletic Association clubWatty Graham's Glen and a keen supporter ofGaelic games and theIrish language.[citation needed]
Kelly joined the IRA in the early 1950s when he was 18 and took part in theBorder Campaign of 1956–62, but was arrested in December 1956 and was imprisoned until 1963. He was a member of theNorthern Ireland Civil Rights Association in 1967–69 which led on to sectarian riots inBelfast. A leader of the newly formed Provisional IRA in 1969, he was involved in the formation of "citizens' defence groups" to protectnationalist areas of Belfast fromloyalist rioters who were largely unhampered by thepolice.[citation needed]
He was jailed on three occasions for IRA related activity spending a total of fifteen years in prison in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. His first term was for his activity in the1956 IRA border campaign, He also served a six-month term in 1973 in the Republic of Ireland for being a member of the IRA.[2]
Commenting later on theTroubles, he said: "Yes, it was a terrible period. But you can't turn the clock back. The Irish government did not create the Provisional IRA. What happened was as inevitable as the changing seasons."[3]
The citizens' defence groups sought help from the government inDublin in 1969, then led byJack Lynch. Several ministers responded and arranged a fund of £100,000 but the planned arms shipment failed. Kelly later said: "These discussions were all about guns. The whole thing was government-sponsored, government-backed and government-related."[3] The planning included travel to Britain, Europe, and on to the US where he met the founders ofNoraid. Kelly was one of the co-defendants in the subsequent Dublin "Arms Trial" with ministersCharles Haughey andNeil Blaney, accused of conspiring to import arms illegally into the Republic of Ireland. The trial eventually collapsed from a lack of evidence, as the relevant government files were kept secret, but the Irish government sacked several ministers as a result.
Kelly went into electoral politics, serving onMagherafelt District Council from 1997. He was elected in the1998 election to theNorthern Ireland Assembly as aSinn Féin member forMid Ulster.[4] Kelly was deselected before the 2003 election, and criticised the decision by the Sinn Féin leadership to support policing reforms. In January 2006 he co-wrote a letter withBrendan Hughes which cast doubt on the claims that dissident republicans had threatened Sinn Féin leaders and claimed that the real threats were being made by the Sinn Féin leadership against those who sought a debate on policing. He left Sinn Féin which he considered too controlled from the centre, opposing the leadership: "deceit and the philosophy of creative ambiguity", and retired from politics.
Kelly died from cancer on 6 September 2007 after a long illness.[5][6] Many tributes have been paid to him including a minute's silence before theDerry Senior Football Championship quarter final betweenAn Lúb andDungiven on 8 September 2007, at the home of his local club, Watty Graham Park, Glen. ANa Piarsaigh Belfast GAC jersey was draped over his coffin before he was interred .
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
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| New assembly | MLA forMid Ulster 1998–2003 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
