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Date Posted: 07:54:19 11/15/08 Sat GMT
Author: Lynn
Subject: Irishman tells court about escape, denies IRA membership (San Antonio Express-News)

11/13/2008 1:42 CST
Irishman tells court about escape, denies IRA membership

By Lynn Brezosky - Express-News

RAYMONDVILLE - Irishman Pól Brennan on Thursday told a South Texas immigration judge how he and others escaped from Northern Ireland’s infamous Long Kesh prison by overpowering prison guards, commandeering a car, and taking over a Protestant household to hide from the British Army.

That was in 1983, when Brennan was about 30 years old.

About a year later, he was given a passport with the name Patrick Morgan, which he used to enter the United States. He began a new, relatively quiet, life as a San Francisco carpenter.

Now 55, Brennan has been in South Texas detention centers since January, when Border Patrol agents stopped him on his way back from South Padre Island with an expired work permit.

He is seeking political asylum and a green card on the basis of his 10-year marriage with U.S. citizen Joanna Volz .

In testimony Thursday, Brennan denied ever being part of the Irish Republican Army, a guerilla group known for violence during the "troubles" in Northern Ireland. He said he was doing a favor when he was caught carrying explosives and subsequently imprisoned.

“I have supported the IRA morally and actively over the years,” he said. “Someone asked me to do a favor who was known to be a Republican and IRA activist. On occasion, I was asked to do favors.”

In testimony Wednesday, an Irish lawyer said Brennan could be sent back to prison to finish his sentence as well as be prosecuted for the escape.

Lawyer Eamann  Patrick McMénamin ,   said Brennan could be in danger if deported back to Ireland due to still simmering tensions between religious and political factions in Northern Ireland.

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