Philip Flynn (born 1940 inDundalk,Ireland) is an Irish businessman. He was previously a vice-president ofSinn Féin, a trade unionist, an industrial relations consultant, a government advisor and a financier. He was the eldest of five children of a nationalist mother andFine Gael father.
He joined Sinn Féin at the age of 14 and lent support to some of those involved in theIRA Border campaign of the 1950s. He was taken in for police questioning on a number of occasions owing to his political activities. In 1974, he was tried with IRA membership, but acquitted, by theSpecial Criminal Court. During the trial, the state alleged that he wasIRA Director of Finance. InLiverpool, he was arrested and held for three days under thePrevention of Terrorism Act. In 1975, he came to public prominence when he acted as a mediator in theTiede Herrema kidnap siege.[citation needed]
In 1984, he was elected general secretary of theLocal Government and Public Services Union. His election caused problems for the Fine Gael-Labour administration as Flynn was also vice-president of Sinn Féin and as such, government officials and ministers refused to talk to him. Shortly after, he was elected to the executive of theIrish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). In the same year, he stepped down as Sinn Féin vice-president, telling the party'sArd fheis that his experience and support would always be available to the movement.[citation needed]
In 1987, he was reported to have resigned from Sinn Féin. From 1993 to 1995, he was president of ICTU, representing theIrish Municipal Public and Civil Trade Union. In 1996, he was appointed chairman of the Industrial Credit Corporation (ICC) byRuairi Quinn. ICC was subsequently acquired by theBank of Scotland in 2001.[citation needed]
In February 2005, Flynn's office was raided by officers of theCriminal Assets Bureau (CAB) as part of an investigation into alleged IRAmoney-laundering. Flynn was a non-executive directors Chesterton Finance Company Ltd, a company at the centre of the CAB investigation. As a result, he resigned as chairman of the Irish Government committee on decentralisation, as non-executive chairman ofBank of Scotland (Ireland) and as director of theVHI. During the search of his officers, Flynn was found to be the illegal possession of apen gun and minitear gas canisters. At related court hearing In December 2005, he admitted to possession and agreed to pay €5,000 to a charity.[citation needed]
Ted Cunningham, theCork based financial adviser convicted oflaundering £3 million of the sum stolen by theIRA in the 2004Northern Bank robbery stated "Phil Flynn is the boss behind everything" in a garda interview about the robbery introduced in evidence in Cunningham's trial.[1][2]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice President ofSinn Féin 1983–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by | General Secretary of theLocal Government and Public Services Union 1984–1991 | Post abolished |
| New post | General Secretary ofIMPACT 1991–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Tom Douglas | President of theIrish Congress of Trade Unions 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |