Finbar Cafferkey

Cafferkey was a native of Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. Politically, Cafferkey was an Irish Republican and socialist{{cite news |last= |first= |date=4 May 2023 |title=Irish activist dies fighting Russian invasion |url=https://republican-news.org/current/news/2023/05/irish_activist_dies_fighting_r.html |work=Republican News |location= |access-date=5 May 2023 |quote=Finbar was an Irish republican and a socialist}}{{cite news |last1=Gallagher |first1=Conor |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Daniel |date=15 July 2023 |title=Finbar Cafferkey: The life and death of an Irish fighter 'who put his money where his mouth is' in Ukraine |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2023/07/15/finbar-cafferkey-the-life-and-death-of-an-irish-fighter-who-put-his-money-where-his-mouth-is-in-ukraine/ |work=Irish Times |location= |access-date=16 July 2023}} who was a part of the Shell to Sea campaign which occurred in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It campaigned against the building of an oil pipeline in north-west County Mayo.

After leaving College, Cafferkey was at one time a member of the Irish Army Reserve.{{cite news |last=MacNamee |first=Garreth |date=28 April 2023 |title='A true superhero' - Irishman killed in Ukraine also fought against Isis |url=https://extra.ie/2023/04/28/news/irishman-finbarr-cafferkey |work=Extra.ie |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}{{cite news |last=Mercer |first=Jessica |date=27 April 2023 |title=Brave Irishman Finbar Cafferkey killed in action after devoting life to fighting ISIS |url=https://www.galwaybeo.ie/news/ireland-news/brave-irishman-finbar-cafferkey-killed-8393325 |work= |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}

In 2015 Cafferkey travelled to the Greek island of Kos, where he assisted refugees amidst the 2015 European migrant crisis. A journalist from the Irish Independent happened to be also there reporting and verified Cafferkey's presence, and reported that Cafferkey, alongside another Irishman, later went to the border of Greece and North Macedonia to continue his work.{{cite news |last= |first= |date= |title=Refugees remain upbeat despite difficult journey |url=https://www.independent.ie/news/refugees-remain-upbeat-despite-difficult-journey/31598071.html |work=The Irish Independent |location= |access-date=2 May 2023 |quote=The migrants had pre-booked their tickets but after some negotiation, we were allowed to board the coach along with two other Irish people we had met on the boat - Pete Bradbury from Athy, Co Kildare, and Finbar Cafferkey from Achill Island, Co Mayo - who had been giving aid to migrants coming in off the dinghies in Kos and who were on their way to continue their work in Macedonia.}}

Cafferkey arrived in Syria in the late spring of 2017. According to his own account, Cafferkey was embedded in a heavy weapons platoon five weeks after he arrived, and part of the fighting around the city of Raqqa, then the de facto capital of the Islamic State, as part of the overall Raqqa campaign (2016–2017).{{cite news |last=McNulty |first=Anton |date=27 June 2017 |title=Achill man joins Syrian fight against ISIS |url=http://www.mayonews.ie/news/30287-achill-man-joins-syrian-fight-against-isis |work=Mayo News |location= |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701035725/http://www.mayonews.ie/news/30287-achill-man-joins-syrian-fight-against-isis |url-status=dead }} In June 2017, a video on YouTube emerged in which Cafferkey, referring to himself by a Kurdish nom-de-guerre "Çîya Demhat", is interviewed.{{cite AV media |people= |date=20 June 2017 |title=Rakka operasyonu irlandali savaşci/ ciya demhat. |trans-title=Raqqa operation Irish warrior/ ciya demhat. |type= |language= |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_39GTZJKyxA&gl=US&hl=en |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629004643/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_39GTZJKyxA&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=29 June 2017 |format=Video |time= |location= |publisher= |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= }} As part of the video, Cafferkey discussed his motives for fighting:

{{Blockquote

|text=I came here because I admire the struggle of the Kurdish people. I admire the People’s Protection Units and the way they go about their fight. There are many similarities between the Irish and the Kurdish struggles. I have long admired the Kurdish people for standing up for themselves and I hope to help them do that. That is why I came. I see many parallels between the Kurdish struggle and the struggle in Ireland. Both are small countries who have fought against powerful enemies, very powerful enemies. Kurdistan is divided amongst four states all of whom are powerful, all of whom have treated the Kurdish people abominably. Between the [People's Defense Units] and the IRA, there are also many parallels, they have carried out a struggle against powerful enemies, and that's one of the reason I admire them, and one of the reasons I came here. |author=Finbar Cafferkey speaking in 2017}}

Precisely when Cafferkey went to Ukraine is not publicly known, as he never publicised the fact nor told anyone outside his family. The Irish Times has stated that Cafferkey had been in Ukraine for roughly a year before his death, and that he had been working mainly with anarchist-aligned aid groups.{{cite news |last=Gallagher |first=Conor |date=15 May 2015 |title=Finbar Cafferkey died in fighting to retain control of vital supply route to Bakhmut |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/05/15/finbar-cafferkey-died-in-fighting-to-retain-control-of-vital-supply-route-to-bakhmut/ |newspaper=The Irish Times |location= |access-date=16 May 2023}} Solidarity Collectives, a Ukrainian left-wing anti-authoritarian network, reported that he was delivering humanitarian aid and cars for frontline zones from Poland to Ukraine.{{cite news |date=30 April 2023 |title= Finbar Cafferkey |url=https://gatorna.info/threads/finbar-cafferkey-3484/ |work= Solidarity Collectives|access-date=3 May 2023}}

Cafferkey's presence in Ukraine only became public knowledge following his death, when it was confirmed he had been killed fighting near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.{{cite news |last=Shiel |first=Tom |date=27 April 2023 |title=Irish man killed fighting Russian forces in Ukraine |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41126401.html |work=Irish Examiner |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}{{cite news |last=Shiel |first=Tom |date=27 April 2023 |title=Irishman Finbar Cafferkey killed fighting in Ukraine |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/irishman-finbar-cafferkey-killed-fighting-in-ukraine/a2062551852.html |work=The Irish Independent |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}} Some reports have indicated that Cafferkey died fighting alongside Russian anarchist Dmitry Petrov (a founder of the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists) and US citizen Andrew "Harris" Cooper (a former US Marine and left-wing organiser), in a battle for a vital supply road near Bakhmut.{{cite news |last=Gueler |first=Cem-odos |date=2 May 2023 |title=Tod im Donbass |trans-title=Death in Donbass |url=https://taz.de/Russischer-Anarchist-im-Ukrainekrieg/!5931338/ |work=Taz.de |location= |access-date=2 May 2023 |language=German}}{{cite news |last= |first= |date=29 April 2023 |title=My name is Dmitriy Petrov, and if you are reading these lines, it means that I most likely died fighting Putin's invasion of Ukraine |url=https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/04/29/my-name-is-dmitriy-petrov-and-if-you-are-reading-these-lines-it-means-that-i-most-likely-died-fighting-putins-invasion-of-ukraine/ |work= |location= |access-date=2 May 2023 |quote=Freedom reports of the death of our comrade who we had interviewed last April. He died alongside other anarchists, including Finbar Cafferkey, they were both veterans of Rojava.}}{{cite web |url=https://www.afed.cz/text/7926/padl-mezinarodni-dobrovolnik-finbar-cafferkey |title=Padl mezinárodní dobrovolník Finbar Cafferkey |trans-title=International volunteer Finbar Cafferkey fell |last= |first= |date=2 May 2023 |website= |publisher= |access-date=2 May 2023 |quote= |language=Czech}}

Following his death, many tributes were made across the political spectrum to Cafferkey. Amongst those tributes were some from Tánaiste and Minister for both Foreign Affairs and Defence Micheál Martin, who stated "My deepest sympathies to the Cafferky family on the sad passing of Finbar. He obviously was a young man of clear principles. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the family today".{{cite news |last=Sherlock |first=Cillian |date=28 April 2023 |title=Tánaiste says 'thoughts and prayers' with family of Irishman killed in Ukraine |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41127421.html |work=Irish Examiner |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}

Following Martin's tribute to Cafferkey, the Embassy of Russia, Dublin issued the following statement:

{{Blockquote

|text=We have noted that on 28 April [the] Tánaiste has expressed his sympathies to the family of Finbar Cafferkey following reports of his death fighting presumably with the Ukrainian military against Russian armed forces. Mr. Martin called him "obviously a young man of clear principles". Every loss of life is sad and regretful. We do not know who Finbar Cafferkey was, except that for whatever reason he was fighting in a foreign land. We do not know what his principles were. What we do know, though, is that in a very big way it is the Irish Government and media to who bear responsibility for the death of Finbar Cafferkey. It has been the Government and media who have been promoting anti-Russian propaganda, distorting the truth about the conflict in Ukraine, misleading people like Finbar Cafferkey. Now they face the results of their own efforts. We also do not know if Mr. Martin’s remarks signify support for the Irish to take part in combat in Ukraine, but we do know that if that is the case, then Ireland would be the direct participant of the conflict with all the ensuing consequences.{{cite news |last=Pope |first=Conor |date=28 April 2023 |title=Russian statement on Finbar Cafferkey death condemned as 'threatening' and 'chilling' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/04/28/russian-statement-on-finbar-cafferkey-death-condemned-as-threatening-and-chilling/ |newspaper=The Irish Times |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}}}

There was widespread disgust at the Russian statement, with the chairman of the Dáil Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence Charles Flanagan immediately describing it as "threatening, intimidating and chilling" before suggesting Russian diplomats in Ireland should be expelled for such remarks. Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly called the Russian statement "vile" while Independent TD Thomas Pringle described the statement was "an absolute disgrace".{{cite news |last=Ní Aodha |first=Gráinne |date=30 April 2023 |title=TDs condemn 'vile' Russian embassy statement on Irishman's death in Ukraine |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/republicofirelandnews/2023/04/30/news/tds_condemn_vile_russian_embassy_statement_on_irishman_s_death_in_ukraine-3244566/ |work=The Irish News |location= |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604083235/https://www.irishnews.com/news/republicofirelandnews/2023/04/30/news/tds_condemn_vile_russian_embassy_statement_on_irishman_s_death_in_ukraine-3244566/ |url-status=dead }} Members of People Before Profit Bríd Smith and Paul Murphy, who had both met Cafferkey via the Shell to Sea campaign, also expressed revulsion at the Russian statement but called for Irish politicians not to be baited by Russian rhetoric.{{cite news |last=Moloney |first=Eoghan |date=29 April 2023 |title=Ireland won't expel Russian diplomats despite 'threatening' statement about death of Finbar Cafferkey in Ukraine |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-wont-expel-russian-diplomats-despite-threatening-statement-about-death-of-finbar-cafferkey-in-ukraine/a680792330.html |work=Irish Independent |location= |access-date=2 May 2023}}

In response to the Russian statement, Finbar's brother Colm issued a statement:

{{Blockquote

|text=My brother Finbar has always been fair-minded, strong-willed, and unafraid. He stood against all forms of imperialism, be it US, British, or Russian, and was strongly opposed to Ireland's support of US troops and any moves toward joining NATO. He was in Ukraine to help the Ukrainian people, as he would have helped any person in the world who was under attack. I loved him and always admired his clear-eyed bravery.}}

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Category:1970s births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine personnel

Category:Irish activists

Category:Irish military personnel killed in action

Category:Ukrainian military personnel killed during the Battle of Bakhmut

Category:Irish republicans

Category:Irish socialists

Category:Military personnel from County Mayo

Category:People from Achill Island

Category:People's Defense Units

Category:Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteers killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Category:Irish anarchists

Category:21st-century anarchists