Anthony McIntyre
{{Short description|IRA volunteer and writer (born 1957)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
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| name = Anthony McIntyre
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| nickname = Mackers
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1957|06|27}}
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| allegiance = Irish republicanism
| branch = Provisional Irish Republican Army
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| rank = Volunteer
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| laterwork = Writer, historian
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Anthony McIntyre (born 27 June 1957{{cite book|last=English|first=Richard|title=Armed Struggle|url=https://archive.org/details/armedstrugglehis00engl|url-access=registration|author-link=Richard English|date=2003|isbn=978-0-19-516605-7 }}{{cite tweet |user=siobhan1916 |number=1144226818708377600 |date=27 June 2019 |title=@AnthonyMcIntyre Happy birthday Macca }}) is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer, writer and historian.
Early life and career
On 27 February 1976, the IRA targeted Victor’s Bar in Belfast, identifying its doorman Kenneth Lenaghan as an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member. That evening a hijacked car pulled up to the curb and McIntyre, later convicted of being the triggerman, fired gunshots into the crowd, killing Lenaghan. He was imprisoned for 18 years, reportedly laughing as the sentencing was being read out.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-08 |title=‘The hatred festered in our family’: Northern Ireland marks 25 years since the Good Friday peace accord |url=https://nbcpalmsprings.com/2023/04/07/the-hatred-festered-in-our-family-northern-ireland-marks-25-years-since-the-good-friday-peace-accord/ |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=NBC Palm Springs |language=en-US}} McIntyre served his term in Long Kesh, spending four of those years on the no-wash protest.
After his release from prison in 1992, he completed a PhD in political science at Queen's University Belfast, and left the republican movement in 1998 to work as a journalist and researcher. Reflecting on his past, McIntyre stated in a 2023 interview: “I don’t have personal regrets — but I don’t think it had to happen, either”.{{Cite web|url=https://www.blogger.com/profile/00559413440743290550|title=Blogger: User Profile: AM|website=www.blogger.com|access-date=2018-06-08}}{{cite book|last=Burgess|first=Thomas Paul|title=The Contested Identities of Ulster Catholics|url={{Google books|MyVhDwAAQBAJ|page=xix|plainurl=yes}}|page=xix}} A collection of his journalism was published as a book in 2008, Good Friday: The Death of Irish Republicanism.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/anthony-mcintyre-who-is-mcguinness-to-talk-of-treachery-1645373.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/anthony-mcintyre-who-is-mcguinness-to-talk-of-treachery-1645373.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Anthony McIntyre: Who is McGuinness to talk of treachery? |newspaper=The Independent |date=15 March 2009 |accessdate=28 July 2012 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}
Research and the Belfast Project
McIntyre was involved with an oral history project at Boston College on the Troubles titled the Belfast Project, conducting interviews with former Provisional IRA members who (like himself) had become disillusioned with the direction the republican movement had taken, such as Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price. East Belfast resident with strong loyalist ties Wilson McArthur conducted a parallel set of interviews in the loyalist community.Keefe, Patrick Radden. Say Nothing. Page 229 These interviews were the basis for the book Voices From The Grave: Two Men's War in Ireland by Ed Moloney, the Belfast Project's director.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/news_from_ireland/Boston-College-condemns-threats-made-against-IRA-interviewer-Anthony-McIntyre-91586974.html |title=Boston College condemns threats made against IRA interviewer Anthony McIntyre |publisher=IrishCentral |date=20 April 2010 |accessdate=28 July 2012}}
In 2011, McIntyre became embroiled in controversy when transcripts of the interviews, held by Boston College, were subpoenaed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in relation to an investigation of the 1972 abduction and killing of Jean McConville.{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Matt |date=7 July 2012 |title=Boston College ordered to turn IRA interviews over to UK authorities |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/07/boston-college-ira-interviews-uk?newsfeed=true |work=The Guardian |location=London}} In March 2014, the PSNI announced that it was seeking to question McIntyre over newly released Belfast Project recordings, specifically in reference to the alleged role of Gerry Adams in the kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville.{{cite web |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/jean-mcconville-murder-police-want-to-quiz-writer-and-former-ira-man-anthony-mcintyre-over-his-interviews-about-killing-30119213.html |title=Jean McConville murder: Police want to quiz writer and former IRA man Anthony McIntyre over his interviews about killing |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |date=24 March 2014}}
McIntyre had himself contributed a recorded interview to the Belfast Project, which were subsequently subpoenaed by the PSNI in 2018; in April 2024, the courts ultimately ruled in favor of the PSNI accessing the tapes, only five days before the cut-off date of May 1, 2024 set by the 2023 Troubles Legacy Act, after which point all active historical investigations and no further inquests into Troubles-era crimes can be launched.{{Cite news |date=2024-04-17 |title=Boston College: Police given date to access Anthony McIntyre's tapes |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-68835213 |access-date=2025-02-05 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=2024-04-30 |title=Legacy Act: What happens with Troubles law on 1 May? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-68930141 |access-date=2025-02-05 |language=en-GB}}
Political views
McIntyre is a prominent critic of modern-day Sinn Féin and its leadership.{{cite web |date=1 May 2014 |title=Gerry Adams arrest: Will Northern Ireland peace pay a price? |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0501/Gerry-Adams-arrest-Will-Northern-Ireland-peace-pay-a-price-video |publisher=Christian Science Monitor}} McIntyre has spoken at Republican Sinn Féin party events.{{Citation|last=Republican Sinn Féin|title=IAF 2013 - Anthony McIntyre|date=2013-07-04|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKAP4PVw-88|accessdate=2017-03-15}} He is a co-founder of The Blanket, a journal which casts a critical eye on the Northern Ireland peace process.
Fictional depictions
McIntyre was played by Seamus O'Hara in the 2024 TV series Say Nothing.https://www.vulture.com/article/say-nothing-true-story-real-people-history.html
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.thepensivequill.com/ The Pensive Quill] McIntyre's blog
- [https://theblanket.library.indianapolis.iu.edu/index.html The Blanket], archived issues of McIntyre's magazine
{{PIRA}}
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Category:Paramilitaries from Belfast
Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army members