Martin O'Prey | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Rook |
| Born | 4 August 1962 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 16 August 1991(1991-08-16) (aged 28) Ardmoulin Terrace,Falls Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Buried | |
| Paramilitary |  Irish People's Liberation Organisation(1986–1991) Irish National Liberation Army(1981–1986) |
| Rank | Commanding Officer(IPLO) Volunteer(INLA) |
| Unit | IPLO Belfast Brigade INLA Belfast Brigade |
Martin "Rook" O'Prey (4 August 1962 – 16 August 1991) was anIrish republican and aVolunteer in both Irish republican andRevolutionary socialist paramilitary groups, first theIrish National Liberation Army (INLA) and later theIrish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO). He was killed byUlster Loyalist paramilitaries from theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF) in August 1991.[1]
In September 1981, when he was a part of theIrish National Liberation Army Belfast Brigade, O'Prey and the INLA Belfast Brigade O/CGerard Steenson killed British UDR soldier Mark Stockman in a west Belfast factory on theSpringfield Road.[2]As O/C of the IPLO's Belfast Brigade O'Prey is believed to have been part of the hit team that killed outspoken Loyalist and UVF memberGeorge Seawright in November 1987.[3] He was also alleged to have been involved in the killing ofUlster Defence Association (UDA) member William Quee, when he was shot and killed by the IPLO at his shop in Oldpark Road, Belfast.[4]Probably the most infamous act he was involved in was theOrange Cross Social Club shooting, in which a member of the Loyalist paramilitary theRed Hand Commando was killed and several others were injured. O'Prey led the attack on the Orange Cross himself. After these actions he became a prime target for Loyalists, as one UVF man put it:
"When the Catholic kids rioted with kids from the Shankill along the peace line they used to shout at the Prods 'We'll get Rook for ya'. O'Prey was an enemy celebrity on the Shankill."[5]
On 16 August 1991 anUlster Volunteer Force (UVF) team burst into his home in Ardmoulin Terrace on theLower Falls in west Belfast. Two UVF men broke into the back of O'Prey's home and found him on the sofa in his living room along with his daughter and a friend. The UVF men fired shots at O'Prey killing him while he lay on the sofa, his daughter and the other man were unharmed.[6]Jimmy Brown, founder and leader of the IPLO along with its political wingRepublican Socialist Collective and a close friend of O'Prey, gave the graveside oration at O'Prey's funeral.[7]
O'Prey is buried in the Republican & IPLO plot inMilltown Cemetery.[8][9]
On the 20th anniversary of his death a commemorative plaque was unveiled outside his home.[10]