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Date Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 22:24:09
Author: Danielle Ni Dhighe
Subject: 20-21 January: Fallen Comrades of the IRSM

[My apologies for the late posting. I've been under the weather.]

Fallen Comrades of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement

*******

John O'Reilly
Chief of Staff - Irish National Liberation Army
Assassinated on 20 January 1987

John O'Reilly, a 26-year-old from Eliza Street in South Belfast, began
his career as a republican activist in the 1970s as a member of the
Official Irish Republican Army's youth wing. As an adult he joined the
INLA, where he was instrumental in securing its European arms supply
network and eventually succeeded Dominic McGlinchey as its chief of staff.

Individuals who had resigned or been purged from the IRSM came
together in 1986 as the Irish People's Liberation Organisation with
the primary goal of destroying the IRSM.

O'Reilly, along with Thomas "Ta" Power and two other INLA members,
went to Drogheda to meet with representatives of the IPLO to discuss
avoiding conflict between the two organisations. Under a flag of
truce, the IPLO attacked the four INLA members, killing O'Reilly and
Power.

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsm.org/fallen/oreilly/">http://www.irsm.org/fallen/oreilly/</a>

*******

Thomas "Ta" Power
Staff Officer - Irish National Liberation Army
Assassinated on 20 January 1987

Aged 34, Thomas "Ta" Power was from Friendly Street in the Markets
area of South Belfast. He had been a member of the Official Irish
Republican Army but joined the INLA in 1975 while in Long Kesh Prison.
His brother Jim was an INLA staff officer who was killed in 1981.

Noted for having spent the longest time on remand (four years and four
months) based on the testimony of informer Harry Kirkpatrick, he was
just released from Crumlin Road Jail a short time before he was killed.

Respected in republican circles, he was widely regarded as a thinker
and theorist, having drawn up a plan while in prison for the
reorganisation of the IRSM. This ambitious plan, which made all
sections of the movement subordinate to the political direction of
the Irish Republican Socialist Party, was adopted by the INLA shortly
before his death but wasn't fully implemented until 1995.

He was assassinated in Drogheda, along with INLA chief of staff
John O'Reilly, by the Irish People's Liberation Organisation.

The "Ta" Power Document:
<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsm.org/history/tapowerdoc.html">http://www.irsm.org/history/tapowerdoc.html</a>

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsm.org/fallen/power/ta_power.html">http://www.irsm.org/fallen/power/ta_power.html</a>

*******

Hessy Phelan
Murdered on 21 January 1996

Hessy Phelan, a former member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
and the Irish National Liberation Army in Derry, moved to New York
City to get away from the Troubles in the North of Ireland.

On 21 January 1996, a friend of Phelan's asked her boyfriend, a New
York City police officer with a record of excessive force complaints,
to take Phelan to his apartment. Once there, according to witnesses
and trial testimony, the officer shot him in the head. The officer was
convicted of manslaughter in 1999.

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsm.org/fallen/phelan/">http://www.irsm.org/fallen/phelan/</a>

*******

A memorial to O'Reilly, Power, and two other comrades was unveiled in
the Markets area of South Belfast on 11 May 2003.

Article about the memorial unveiling:
<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.teachnafailte.org/markets.htm">http://www.teachnafailte.org/markets.htm</a>

A memorial to Phelan and two other comrades was unveiled in the
Bogside area of Derry on 13 July 2003.

Article about the memorial unveiling:
<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.teachnafailte.org/bogside.htm">http://www.teachnafailte.org/bogside.htm</a>

They died as they lived: as Republican Socialists. Remember them with
honour and pride.

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