Michael Flannery | |
|---|---|
 Flannery in 1921 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1903-01-07)7 January 1903 Cangort, nearBrosna,County Offaly, Ireland |
| Died | 30 September 1994(1994-09-30) (aged 91) |
| Resting place | Mount Saint Mary's Cemetery inFlushing, New York. |
| Political party | Sinn Féin, Republican Sinn Fein |
| Spouse | |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Irish Republican Army Anti-Treaty IRA |
| Years of service | 1919–1922 |
| Unit | Tipperary No. 1 Brigade |
| Battles/wars | Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War |
Michael Flannery (7 January 1903 – 30 September 1994) was an Irish military officer and founder of theIrish Northern Aid Committee (NORAID), an Irish American membership organization that supported theProvisional IRA duringthe Troubles.
Flannery was a veteran of theIrish War of Independence and theIrish Civil War, and was also a member of theCumann na Saoirse after theRepublican Sinn Féin andProvisional Sinn Féin split in 1986.
Flannery was born in Cangort, nearBrosna, right on the border ofCounty Offaly andCounty Tipperary, on 7 January 1903.[citation needed]
In 1916, he joined the Irish Volunteers alongside his brother Peter, although he did not take part in theEaster Rising.[1] However, he did participate in theIrish War of Independence. Following the outbreak of theIrish Civil War, he fought as part of theAnti-Treaty IRA until his capture by theNational Army on 11 November 1922 inRoscrea, County Tipperary. He was imprisoned for nearly a year and a half in Dublin'sMountjoy Prison (C Wing). While there, he witnessed the execution of Anti-Treaty IRA leadersRichard Barrett,Joe McKelvey,Liam Mellows andRory O'Connor from his cell window. Following Flannery going on a 28-dayhunger strike, he was placed inthe Curragh Prison Camp until 1 May 1924 when he was finally released, a full year after the end of the civil war.[2]
In February 1927, he emigrated to theUnited States, settling inJackson Heights, Queens,New York City. In 1928, he married Margaret Mary Egan, an Irish-born research chemist from Tipperary, who had been educated atUniversity College Dublin andUniversity of Geneva.[2]
Following the creation ofFianna Fáil and their entry into the Irish ParliamentDáil Éireann, Flannery became affiliated withSinn Féin, who had voted to retain theirabstentionist policy towards the Dáil and their refusal to acknowledge it as the legitimate government of Ireland. Sinn Féin tasked Flannery with drumming up support for the party in New York. However, following the start of theGreat Depression, Flannery found it difficult to focus on politics in the face of mounting poverty. By 1933 finding support for Sinn Féin and the IRA became particularly tough when Fianna Fáil expanded greatly the range of people eligible for military pensions, which under the previous government had been biased against members of the Anti-Treaty IRA.[2]
For the next 40 years, Flannery would work for theMetropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Upon the onset ofThe Troubles inNorthern Ireland, Flannery was once again drawn into the world ofIrish Republicanism. In response to the mounting violence, Flannery set up the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or as it became better known asNORAID. The official purpose of NORAID was to provide funds to the families of imprisoned Irish Republicans and victims of violence. However, opponents leveled the accusation against the organisation that it was also afront for theProvisional Irish Republican Army by using donations to supply firearms.[citation needed]
In 1970, he traveled around America and set up 62 chapters of NORAID. In 1971, he said: "The more coffins sent back to Britain, the sooner this will be all over," referring to British soldiers.[1]
In 1982, he was indicted, with four other Irish immigrants (Thomas Falvey, Daniel Gormley,George Harrison and Patrick Mullin), for arms smuggling, but all defendants were acquitted after their legal defence was able to successfully argue their actions had been sanctioned by theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA). During the trial, Flannery said himself that:
I came [to the US] directly from Ireland. I was a member of the Irish Republican Army until I left Ireland. When I came here, there had been a general exodus of young Irishmen and women from Ireland from 1924 to 1927 and I came here purposely to organise these people so they would be a help to the militant movement, to the IRA at home, to complete the freedom of Ireland.
In spite of the men's acquittal, the indictment led to severe disruption of the IRA arms procurement in America so the IRA focused much on importing commercial weapons from mainland Europe and the Middle East.[3][4]
Four months after the verdict of the arms trial, Flannery was named by theAncient Order of Hibernians (the largestIrish Catholicfraternal organization in America) asGrand Marshall of theSt. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City.[5][6] His appointment was widely condemned by the Irish American majority, the press, and the U.S. government. Figures and institutions boycotted the parade that year, including theArchbishop of New YorkTerence Cooke, Irish American politicians such as "The Four Horsemen" (Ted Kennedy,Tip O’Neill,Daniel Patrick Moynihan andHugh Carey) and members of theFriends of Ireland, andU.S. Army and high school bands.[7][5][8]
In 1986, Flannery quietly resigned from NORAID following the decision bySinn Féin to drop its abstentionist policy in the Republic of Ireland and to recogniseDáil Éireann as the legitimate governing body of Ireland. Michael Flannery joined with veteran Republicans, including Joe Stynes and George Harrison to form Cumann na Saoirse.[9]
He opposed theNorthern Ireland peace process, believing thatSinn Féin and the Provisionals had "sold out", and believed the removal of British troops from Northern Ireland was the only starting point upon which negotiations could begin.[10]
He died on 30 September 1994, aged 91.[10] From 1970 to 1991, NORAID was estimated to have raised $3.6 million: $3 million by 1986 and $600,000 by 1991.[11][12][13][14] Historians, scholars, and IRA veterans said the total amount raised in America for the Provisional cause had been exaggerated and only formed a small portion of IRA income, pointing out that nearly all of the IRA money came from legitimate and criminal activities within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.[11][15][16][17][18]
The 41 signers included leading Irish dissenters, but the big surprise was the first name: Michael Flannery, at 88 still the most respected Irish nationalist in America. Flannery, it turned out, had quietly resigned from NORAID in 1986, after Sinn Fein declared itself willing to take seats in the Irish parliament, which he regards as the equivalent of the illegitimate Free State parliament.
Estimated to have sent at total of $3.6 million to Ireland from 1970 to 1991, NORAID's contributions represented a small, but not [politically] insignificant, part of the IRA's income, which is estimated to have amounted to approximately $10 million a year.
From its founding in 1969 until 1991, NORAID raised approximately $3.6 million for Irish republican causes, through a combination of testimonial fundraising dinners and an extensive campaign to solicit donations through direct mail, dinner-dance benefits, and "passing the hat" in Irish American-owned businesses (such as bars) in major US cities.' This money was ostensibly to provide support for any number of causes related to Ireland and Irish republicanism, ranging from political activities to support to the families of imprisoned PIRA members
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
