Bernard Fox (IRA member)

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Bernard Fox (* 1951 in Belfast , Northern Ireland ) is a former member of the Army Council of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), which took part in the Irish hunger strike in 1981 .

Early life

Bernard Fox was an apprentice to the Falls Road in Belfast who joined the IRA in 1969. He explained his motivation for becoming a member in a 1998 interview with the Irish News :

“I was almost shot in a gun attack at Norfolk Street. I came away wanting a gun. It was survival. You wanted to protect your own people ... my family and myself. When the barricades went up I wanted a gun so I approached this fella who was in the IRA and asked for gun and he said: could I shoot a British soldier? At that time I hadn't the idea that it was the British government's fault. "

“I was almost shot in a shootout on Norfolk Street. I got away with it and wanted a rifle to survive. You want to protect your own people [...] my family and myself. When the barricades were put up, I wanted a rifle and so I went to the people in the IRA and asked for a rifle and they asked me: Can you hit one shoot British soldiers? At that time I had no idea that the British government was to blame for the situation. "

- Bernhard Fox :

captivity

In 1981 Fox was sentenced to 12 years in prison for possession of explosives and a bomb attack on a hotel. At Maze Prison he took part in the 1981 hunger strike on August 24 , when he took the place of Patrick Quinn , who had ended the strike after his family intervened. Fox ended his hunger strike after 32 days on September 24, 1981 after a doctor told him that if his hunger strike continued, his kidney would be destroyed in days.

For his activities in the IRA, Fox was jailed four times and was incarcerated for over 20 years. In 1998 he was released under the Good Friday Agreement as a result of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

After captivity

At Easter 2001, Fox was the spokesman for the 85th anniversary of the Easter Rising commemoration in Dublin and asked himself:

“After spending nearly 22 years in jail, one of the questions I'm most frequently asked is 'was it worth it'? I can't answer that question. History will answer that. The question is phrased in the past tense. It's not over. The struggle continues and will continue until the British are out of Ireland. "

“After nearly 22 years in prison, one of the most common questions asked me is: Was it worth it? I can't answer this question in the end; history will give the answer. The question is formulated in the past tense. It's not over. The fight goes on and will continue until the British are out of Ireland. "

- Bernhard Fox :

In 2005 Fox became a member of the IRA Army Council, replacing Brain Keenan , who resigned due to illness. Fox resigned in September 2006 and accused the Sinn Féin leadership around Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of controlling the IRA in an "undemocratic" manner. Fox joined the independent republican group Éirígí .

In January 2007, while returning from a family vacation, Fox was held at Belfast International Airport by two people who identified themselves as members of the British secret service MI5 . They refused to allow Fox to use a lawyer. Fox made a formal petition on the matter to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal , which is responsible for investigating complaints against MI5 and other legal agencies under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ed Moloney : A Secret History of the IRA . Penguin Books , 2002, ISBN 0-141-01041-X , p. 81.
  2. ↑ Jailed Irish Nationalist Joins Hunger Strike . The New York Times . August 25, 1981. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  3. ↑ The Hunger Strike of 1981 - List of Dead and Other Hunger Strikers . CAIN. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  4. ↑ IRA Asserts Fast Will Continue at Prison . The New York Times . September 28, 1981. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  5. ↑ a b Suzanne Breen: Veteran IRA man resigns from Army Council . Sunday Tribune . September 24, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  6. ^ Easter 2001 . Phoblacht . April 19, 2001. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  7. ^ Ed Moloney: Voices from the grave. Two men's was in Ireland. Faber, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-571-25168-1 , p. 287.
  8. ^ Ex-hunger striker complains over MI5 . The Irish Times . January 29, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Fox, Bernard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Northern Irish political activist, member of the IRA
DATE OF BIRTH 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast , Northern Ireland