Ferris claims IRA would never have dealt with ?Whitey? Bulger had they known who he was.

TV3 GROUP RELEASE: Sunday 1st December 2013                                                                     

 

Ferris claims IRA would never have dealt with “Whitey” Bulger had they known who he was.

In ‘Sinn Fein Who Are They?’ Martin Ferris also defends the violence used by the IRA in the past and admits that he has regrets over past mistakes. 

SF is shunned as a coalition partner by major political parties: Ex-Minister Willie O’Dea threatens to resign from Fianna Fáil and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter rules out Fine Gael partnership with Sinn Féin

Martin McGuinness hints at Adams disclosure at truth commission.

Gerry Adams remains defiant and says he will lead Sinn Féin into the next General Election.

The final episode of ‘Sinn Féin: Who Are They?’ airs Monday 2nd December at 10pm on TV3.

Video link to view the full documentary is available on request.

Interviews with Ursula Halligan available on request

In the second and final episode of TV3’s documentary Sinn Féin: Who Are They?, former IRA man Martin Ferris speaks to TV3’s Ursula Halligan from his home in Kerry and claims the IRA would never have got involved with notorious Boston criminal James “Whitey” Bulger, had they known who he was.

When questioned about his involvement with Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, Ferris claims that he, and indeed the IRA, were oblivious to who he was:  

“I hadn’t a clue. All my job, as an IRA volunteer, was to take the weapons, get them ashore and make sure they were secure. Unfortunately I didn’t get them ashore, they certainly weren’t secure and I ended up in prison.”

“If the IRA had known that at the time, would we have had anything to do with Whitey Bulger? No, absolutely not, because, as you say, he was a gangster.”

Ferris also opens up to Ursula and openly defends previous violence on the part of the IRA: “I believe strongly that whatever freedom we have on this part of our state would not have come about unless we had violence. If you had no 1916 rising, if you had no 1918/21 war of independence, would you have had freedom of the 26 counties? No.”

 

However, Ferris admits he did make mistakes which he regrets, but stops short of admitting what they were. He says: “I made a lot of mistakes, who hasn’t? Show me a man or woman alive that hasn’t made a mistake.

“I made some yes. I’m not going to say (what mistakes they were). I don’t think you expect me to either.”

 

When asked by Ursula if his past mistakes haunted him, Ferris answers: “No they don’t haunt me but do I wish I hadn’t made the mistakes? Yes.” 

 

In the final episode of TV3’s documentary, Sinn Féin’s hopes of entering government in the south are threatened by the reluctance of the other major parties to do business with them.

Former Minister for Defence Willie O’ Dea threatens to resign from Fianna Fáil if the party enters coalition with Sinn Féin and launches a scathing attack on the party.

Speaking to TV3’s Ursula Halligan, O’Dea says: “I won’t be going into coalition with them, I can tell you. I couldn’t envisage a situation where I was a member of, or supporting, a government with Sinn Féin as a member, regardless of who else was supporting it.

“Fianna Fáil would be mad to go into coalition with Sinn Féin and they would be even more mad not to rule that out firmly now well in advance of the election.”

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter also says he cannot see Fine Gael negotiating a partnership with the party.“I don’t see Fine Gael sharing power with a party that has policies that would bankrupt economically this country….or with a party that has not fully come to terms with the conduct of the Provisional IRA.”

 

As the documentary progresses, the fierce rivalry on the opposition benches between Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil is also laid bare by Pearse Doherty, who wants an alliance with Labour.

Despite the fact Doherty’s own father was a Fianna Fáil man, he is clear that he will not follow in his footsteps: “Personally myself, the one party I would not be happy going into government with after the next election is Fianna Fáil.”

Ursula Halligan also speaks to former Sinn Féin councillor Killian Forde.

Forde compares Sinn Féin to a cult and warns that a spell in government would end in disaster. He said:“If you look up the characteristics of a cult, Sinn Féin ticks an awful lot of those boxes.

“They go into government with maybe 30 seats. There’s a huge expectation. They aren’t able to deliver on the core promises because there’s no ability to deliver on the core promises. They go back to the electorate in a few years and they get a kicking which would make the PDs kicking and the Labour kicking look like a little slap.”

When it comes to the leadership there appears to be no question over who will lead Sinn Fein into the next General Election. Gerry Adam’s responds with an unequivocal “yes” when Ursula Halligan asks him if he will lead the party into the next General Election. However, having spent thirty years as the party leader, there is already speculation over who will succeed him when he eventually steps down.

 

While Mary Lou McDonald says she would consider it in the long term, Donegal TD Pearse Doherty is not so forward, citing a young family as reasons why he wouldn’t enter the leadership race. He says:“For me personally, to take on more responsibility would tip the balance completely in the wrong direction.  It’s one of my greatest fears in life – that at some time in the future I would regret the amount of time I spent away from my (four) children and family. That may change as things change but that’s the position I’m in at this point in time.”

 

With a cast list of close to fifty contributors, Sinn Féin: Who Are They? features a number of household names in Irish politics, including Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Mary Lou McDonald, David Trimble, Ruairi Quinn, David Andrews, Willie O’Dea and Alan Shatter. Other Sinn Féin party members from across the organisation, north and south, are interviewed, as are former IRA members, republican critics, political rivals, academics and commentators.

The programme concludes by asking some of those featured ‘Who are Sinn Féin?’ While that may not be 100% clear, one thing that is clear is that Gerry Adams is no closer to admitting he was a member of the IRA. His colleague and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness hints that a truth commission might be the only way the real truth will be told.  

He says: “Gerry Adams is on the public record as saying that if a truth and reconciliation commission of an international standard is established then he’s prepared to go to it.”

 

Ursula then asks McGuinness: “Will he tell the truth about his membership of the IRA?” to which McGuinness replied: “We’ll know that when we see such a commission established; if it is ever established.”

 

He then adds: “I’m not going to tell anyone who was in the IRA and who wasn’t. Why should I? It’s up to me to tell my truth. It’s up to others who were involved in the conflict to tell theirs.”

 

 

The final episode of ‘Sinn Féin: Who Are They?’ airs Monday 2nd December at 10pm on TV3.

Further relevant quotes from Episode 2 are included in ‘Notes to Editor’ below

 

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ENDS

 

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Notes to the editor:

 

Additional quotes from Episode two (airing 2nd December 2013)

 

CAOIMHGHIN O’CAOLAIN T.D. DEFENDING PAST IRA CRIMINALITY

 

Ursula: “Criminality played a big role in the IRA. Is that all finished now?”

 

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: “I don’t believe that it ever did. That’s your view. Some may hold that view but make no mistake about it…

 

Ursula: “But IRA activists robbed banks…maybe even the Bank of Ireland?”

 

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: “Oh yeah, and so did Michael Collins, so did the IRA of its time. People deal with the situation as it presented in its time, so let’s not try to make fish of one and flesh of another. Let’s just face up to the facts. It was no different in any decade in terms of the twentieth century. IRA activity or any other organisation of its ilk, the fact of the matter is and the most important thing, and rather than as I’ve said, being fixated on the past, let us joyfully look forward to the future.”       

 

AENGUS Ó’SNODAIGH TD DEFENDS PAST IRA CRIMINALITY

 

 

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: “In any war and including if you go back into our history, in the town war and before, those who were involved in challenging the British army, were involved in trying to fundraise and finance that and that involves sometimes robbing banks and that…”

 

Ursula: “So that’s okay then?”

 

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: “Well it’s not ideal.”  

 

 

WHO ARE SINN FÉIN?

Pearse Doherty tells Ursula Halligan: “Sinn Féin are the people, they're the Irish people, it's we ourselves. It's about that vehicle. It's about providing you that platform, the same way we did in 1918, the same way we did when Irish people were able to rally around the banner of Sinn Féin and say ‘this something we believe in’.”

Cllr Toiréasa Ferris insists Sinn Féin are just “ordinary people and Irish citizens who dream about a better life for ourselves”.

 

VIDEO CLIPS TO NOTE

 

Martin Ferris on past violence

1:38 – 2:01

 

Martin Ferris on past mistakes

12:12 – 12:47

 

Martin Ferris on Whitey Bulger

3:32 – 4:10

 

Gerry Adams comparison to Mandela

41:43 – 42:53

 

 

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

 

Non Sinn Féin Contributors:

Alan Shatter TD – Fine Gael - Minister for Justice

Ann Travers – Sister of IRA Victim

Anthony McIntyre – Former IRA Member

Des Dalton – President of Republican Sinn Féin

Prof. Conor Gearty – London School of Economics

Danny Morrison – Director of Publicity Sinn Féin, 1979-1990

Reverend David Latimer – First Presbyterian Church Derry

Dennis Bradley – Former Intermediary between IRA and British Government

David Trimble – Leader of Ulster Unionist Party - 1995-2005

Bríd Rogers – Deputy Leader of SDLP- 2001-2004

Killian Forde –Sinn Féin Councillor- 2004-2009

Brian Hayes TD Minister of State Fine Gael

Alan Dukes – Leader of Fine Gael -1987-1990

Tony Heffernan – Official IRA 1969-1972

Dr. Martin Mansergh – Fianna Fáil, Former Special Advisor on Northern Ireland

Austin Currie – SDLP MP 1964-1972

Prof. Henry Patterson – University of Ulster

Alex Kane – Director of Communications Ulster Unionist Party 1998-2010

David Andrews – Fianna Fáil - Minister for Foreign Affairs – 1997-2000

Ken Maginnis – Ulster Unionist Party MP 1983-2001

Alastair Campbell – Press Advisor to Tony Blair – 1997-2003

Henry Mc Donald – Irish Editor - The Observer

Dr. Brian Feeney – St. Mary’s College Belfast

Dr. Kevin Rafter – DCU

Willie O’Dea TD – Fianna Fáil

Noel Whelan – Political Commentator

Prof. Richard English – University of St. Andrews

Fr. Alec Reid – Redemptorists Order, Clonard Monastery

Richard O’Rawe – Former IRA member, PRO IRA Prisoners, Maze Prison 1981

Brendan Keenan – Economic Editor – Irish Independent, 1993-2013

Ruairi Quinn TD – Labour, Minister for Education

Séan Garland – IRA 1953-1969, Official IRA 1969-1972

Robert Ballagh – Artist

Robert Saulters – Grand Master, Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland 1996-2011

David McConaghie – Worshipful District Master, Ballymena

Matthew Thompson – Orange Order, Ballymena

Hubert Scullion – District Master, Ballymena

 

Sinn Féin Contributors:

Gerry Adams T.D. – President of Sinn Féin

Gerry Kelly MLA

Alex Maskey MLA

Aengus Ó Snodaigh T.D.

Mary Lou Mc Donald – T.D.

Mairéad Farrell – Sinn Féin

Martin Ferris T.D.

Cllr Toiréasa Ferris – Kerry County Council

Pearse Doherty T.D.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin T.D.

Martin Mc Guinness MLA – Deputy First Minister