Edward Butler | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1949-04-17)17 April 1949 Castleconnell,County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | 2 May 2024(2024-05-02) (aged 75) Castleconnell, County Limerick, Ireland |
| Paramilitaries |
|
| Unit | Balcombe Street gang |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
Edward Butler (17 April 1949 – 2 May 2024) is a former member of both theOfficial Irish Republican Army and theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was part of different IRA units based in Ireland and then England. Butler and three others were called the "Balcombe Street Gang" or the "Balcombe Street Four" by news media during a five-day siege in the street of that name nearMarylebone station, London. He and his co-accused were gaoled for seven murders plus other charges.
He was one of seven children. His mother was fromCastleconnell,County Limerick – where he grew up – and his father fromCarrick-on-Suir,County Tipperary. His father had been a private in the Irish defence forces. The family lived in a cottage in Castleconnell. Butler became a labourer, working for the oldLimerick County Council. He was inspired by thecivil rights marches in the late sixties. He sold republican newspapers outside the local church, St. Joseph's. After joining theOfficial IRA, he left to join the Provisionals when the former announced a ceasefire in 1972. He spent time with aborder unit in Ireland and left his home area about a year before he was caught in London.[1]
The high number of attacks by the Provisional IRA in Great Britain had exercised British police forces. Spanning 14 months, there were 40 explosions and 35 people killed.Operation Comb had been instigated, involving approximately a thousand plain-clothes detectives deployed to observe London's streets. On 6 December 1975, officers working for theMetropolitan Police chased Butler,Joe O'Connell,Hugh Doherty andHarry Duggan by car through London's streets after they'd witnessed the group directing automatic fire intoScott's restaurant inMayfair. They became trapped, forced their way into the home of Sheila and John Matthews at 22B Balcombe Street and kept the couple as hostages for five days. With constant media coverage and after food parcels from the balcony above, appeals and days of negotiations, the four surrendered, staggering their exit between the release of their hostages.[2]
Butler and the three others were convicted of the murders ofRoger Goad,Gordon Hamilton Fairley, Robert Anthony Lloyd, Graham Ronald Tuck, Audrey Edgson and John Francis Bately – all killed by bombs – andRoss McWhirter – shot at his home. On 10 February 1977, JudgeJoseph Cantley sentenced the four to 47 life terms, recommending 30-year terms of imprisonment. There was a claim that Butler and colleagues were anSAS-style, highly trained and independent unit, unknown to the localRepublican community, referred to as "the most violent, ruthless and highly-trained unit ever sent to Britain by the Provisional IRA."[1][3]
In May 1998, after 23 years in British prisons, Butler was moved from England toPortlaoise Prison, a few days later spending time celebrated with his gaoled colleagues atSinn Féin'sArd fheis, before returning to Portlaise. He was released the following April, just before his 50th birthday, under the terms of theGood Friday Agreement. Archives were released in 2009 indicating a collection of planned targets for attack; a list of human targets – seen by Prime MinisterHarold Wilson – was withheld.[4][5][6][2]
Butler died on 2 May 2024 in Castleconnell.[7]
