Billy Fox (politician)

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Billy_Fox_(Fine_Gael).jpg

| caption = Fox, circa 1970s

| office = Senator

| term_start = 1 June 1973

| term_end = 12 March 1974

| constituency = Cultural and Educational Panel

| office1 = Teachta Dála

| term_start1 = June 1969

| term_end1 = February 1973

| constituency1 = Monaghan

| birth_name = William Fox

| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|1|3|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cortubber, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland{{cite web | url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/fox-william-billy-a3348 | title=Fox, William ('Billy') |work=Dictionary of Irish Biography }}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|3|12|1939|1|3|df=y}}

| death_place = Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland

| death_cause = Assassination by gunshot

| nationality = Irish

| party = Fine Gael

| spouse =

| children =

| alma_mater =

|}}

Billy Fox (3 January 1939 – 12 March 1974) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1973 to 1974 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Monaghan constituency from 1969 to 1973.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Billy-Fox.D.1969-07-02/|title=Billy Fox|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=5 November 2012}}

He was shot to death by the IRA who were carrying out a raid on his girlfriend's farmhouse. Five members of the Provisional IRA were convicted of involvement in his murder.Lost Lives, McKittrick, Kelters, Feeney, Thornton & McVea, pp. 426–27; {{ISBN|978-1-84018-504-1}}[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/F.html The Malcolm Sutton Index of Deaths] states Fox was killed by the "Irish Republican Army", which, according to Sutton's categorisation, is "Provisional Irish Republican Army". (Official IRA killings are attributed to the "Official Irish Republican Army").

Political career

A member of the Fine Gael party, Fox was first elected to Monaghan County Council in 1967, and as a Fine Gael TD to the 19th Dáil for the Monaghan constituency at the 1969 general election.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2800|title=Billy Fox|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=5 November 2012}} He lost his seat at the 1973 general election, but later that year he was elected to the 13th Seanad as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel. Fox was also one of a handful of members of the Oireachtas from the minority Protestant community.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19740312&id=j2o0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZwoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=788,2454926|title=Star-News – Google News Archive Search}}

Fox came to prominence when he campaigned against the British Army's cratering of border roads and its use of CS gas and rubber bullets. On one occasion, he brought CS gas canisters and rubber bullets into the Dáil chamber and berated the Fianna Fáil Government's policy on Northern Ireland. He was forcibly removed from the Dáil and the incident made front-page news.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/rumours.html|work=RTÉ Radio 1|title=Rumours from Monaghan}}

Death

On the night of Monday 11 March 1974, about a dozen IRA men arrived at the home of Fox's girlfriend, Marjorie Coulson.McKittrick, David. Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Random House, 2001. pp.426–427 She lived there with her parents and brother, and Fox regularly visited on Monday evenings. The farmhouse was in the rural townland of Tircooney in County Monaghan, near the border between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The IRA searched the farmhouse and demanded the occupants hand over weapons. As this was taking place, Fox drove down the laneway and was stopped by some of the IRA members who were outside. He ran, but was shot and killed by a single gunshot wound through the upper torso. They then ordered everyone out of the house, set it on fire, and escaped.

The next day, the Ulster Freedom Fighters claimed that it had killed Fox because he had links to the Provisional IRA.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j2o0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZwoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=788%2C2454926|title=Irish Senator Killed – Protestant Extremists claim Responsibility|date=13 March 1974|work=Wilmington Morning Star|page=5|access-date=26 October 2011}} The IRA issued a statement saying that it was not involved, adding that "Mr Fox was known personally to a number of the leadership of the republican movement". However, shortly after the shooting, five men from County Monaghan were charged with Fox's murder and IRA membership. They were convicted in May 1974 and sentenced to penal servitude for life. One of those convicted told the court they had raided the farm because they received a tip-off that UVF weapons were being stored there. He said there was an agreement that no shots were to be fired. His understanding was that Senator Fox had taken some of the men by surprise and they had shot to wound, not recognizing him. It was reported that the tip-off came from another local family and was the result of a grudge. IRA members were already suspicious that the UVF was receiving local help, following an incident in November 1973.[http://www.politico.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5704:the-crime-and-punishment-of-michael-kinsella&catid=206:justice "The crime and punishment of Michael Kinsella "]. Politico.ie. 1 October 1984. Loyalist gunmen had bombed a house at nearby Legnakelly and shot one of the occupants, a republican activist. In its statement on Fox's killing, the IRA said "We have repeatedly drawn attention to the murderous acts of a group of former B Specials from County Fermanagh … led by serving officers of the British Army". The author Tim Pat Coogan, however, suggests that members of the Official IRA were responsible for killing Senator Fox.The IRA, Tim Pat Coogan, p. 357; {{ISBN|0-00-653155-5}}.Tim Pat Coogan, Disillusioned Decades, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1987. p520 – {{ISBN|0-09-941522-4}}.

The Seanad adjourned for a week as a mark of respect. About 500 people attended his funeral at Aughnamullen, including the Taoiseach and the Irish President, Erskine Childers. Fox was the first member of the Oireachtas to be killed since Minister for Justice Kevin O'Higgins by the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army in 1927.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} When John Bruton first became a TD in 1969 he shared an office with Billy Fox. Bruton said in 2004 that he was still angry at the murder.[http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/forgiveness-is-better-than-more-inquiries-bruton-26007116.html Forgiveness is better than more inquiries: Bruton] The RTÉ documentary Rumours from Monaghan reported in detail on the circumstances of Fox's killing. Because Fox was a Protestant, several TDs have stated that the motive for the killing was sectarian.[https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2005-10-06/speech/118/ Seanad Eireann Debate Vol. 181 No. 138 – Mr. B. Hayes][https://books.google.com/books?id=miuciMWCZ-QC&dq=sectarian+%22billy+fox%22++murder&pg=PT134 Badfellas by Paul Williams : quoting Paddy Cooney]

One of those convicted for Fox's killing, Sean Kinsella, later escaped from Portlaoise Prison and was later convicted of arms offences and attempted murder in England. He was released by the Government of Ireland under the Good Friday Agreement.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/12/19/wdub19.html |title=Daily Telegraph Dublin frees nine IRA prisoners to aid peace talks |access-date=2008-03-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050411113311/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F12%2F19%2Fwdub19.html |archive-date=11 April 2005 |df=dmy }}

The Senator Billy Fox Memorial Park in Latton is named in his memory. The Cavan-Monaghan Young Fine Gael branch was also named after him in his memory.{{cn|date=April 2024}}