Kevin McKenna (IRA member)

Kevin McKenna ( Irish Caoimhín Mac Cionnaith ; * 1945 in Aughnacloy, Tyrone , Northern Ireland ; † June 25, 2019 in Cavan , Ireland ) has been a leading member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) since the early 1970s . Within the IRA, he rose to the position of IRA Chief of Staff of the underground organization.

Beginnings

McKenna joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) shortly before the start of the Northern Ireland conflict. However, he emigrated to Canada soon afterwards , which is why he "missed" the escalation of violence in Northern Ireland and the subsequent split of the IRA into the Official Irish Republican Army and the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1969. After the internment policy of the Northern Irish and British governments was introduced in 1971, he returned to Ireland and joined the Provisional IRA in Tyrone. He helped set up an IRA unit around the villages of Eglish and Aughnacloy. In late 1972, he became the commander of the East Tyrone Brigade . A year and a half later, the British security forces arrested McKenna and interned him. In 1975 he was released and took over the post of commander of the brigade again. However, after his release he moved to the other side of the inner-Irish border to Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland . In the early 1980s, he became the commander of the IRA's Northern Command , which was responsible for all IRA operations within Northern Ireland and the five adjacent counties of the Republic of Ireland, Cavan , Donegal , Leitrim , Louth and Monaghan. At the same time he also got a seat on the top management body of the IRA, the seven-member Army Council.

IRA chief of staff

Towards the end of 1983 he was elected the new IRA chief of staff by the Army Council. He held this post of nominally the highest IRA leader until 1997. This made him by far the longest-serving chief of staff in the history of the IRA.

During his tenure as chief of staff, the IRA was able to negotiate payments in the millions and free arms deliveries from Libya totaling 300 tons through relationships with the Libyan secret service . As a result, between 1985 and 1987 there were a total of five arms transports by ship, four of which went almost smoothly. However, the last and largest Libyan arms shipment of around 150 tons was intercepted by the French coast guard in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Brittany on November 1, 1987. With these weapons, the IRA wanted to launch a comprehensive offensive to win the resulting military stalemate in Northern Ireland. In reference to the Vietnam War , the IRA planners called it the Tet Offensive . After the failed last delivery of arms, the IRA leadership abandoned a large part of its ambitious plans, as the planned surprise effect was lost. Even so, the IRA was now better equipped than ever in its history.

In addition, McKenna's tenure also included the Northern Ireland peace process and the IRA's two cease-fires in 1994 and 1997. These events ultimately led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 . Although he was against both armistices and against a final end to the armed struggle, he formally adhered to Gerry Adams and his strategy until he was voted out of the Army Council in 1997 . After that McKenna was Quartermaster General of the IRA for a short period before he finally resigned from all posts.

McKenna died on June 25, 2019 in Cavan Hospital, Ireland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ E. Moloney: A Secret History of the IRA. Norton, New York 2002, ISBN 0-393-05194-3 , pp. 384f.
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ^ E. Moloney: A Secret History of the IRA. 2002, p. 513.
4. ^ B. O'Brien: The long war: the IRA and Sinn Féin. New York 1999, ISBN 0-8156-0597-8 , p. 325.
5. ^ E. Moloney: A Secret History of the IRA. 2002, pp. 3-33.
6. ^ E. Moloney: A Secret History of the IRA. 2002, p. 478f.
7. ^ Connla Young: One of the IRA's most influential leaders during the Troubles has died. In: The Irish News. June 26, 2019, accessed June 26, 2019 .