SAOIRSE32

Indymedia Ireland

by Prisoner solidarity
Saturday, Nov 26 2005, 8:33pm

Message Of Solidarity With The Political Prisoners: Hunger Striker’s Son Demands Human Rights Intervention

Until All Are Free, We Are All Imprisoned!

The son of a Derry INLA hunger striker, Micky Og Devine has added his voice for the release of the nine political activists who have been on hunger strike for the last three weeks whilst awaiting trail in France. On November 16th the trial commenced in a Paris court room against activists of PCE (r) [Communist Party of Spain reconstituted] an underground political party and GRAPO [First of October Anti-Fascist Revolutionary Group] and SRI [International Red Aid]. The French state aided and commanded by the Franco’s Spanish Civil Guard is collaborating in a so-called ‘anti-terrorist campaign’.

In a statement released on behalf of the Devine Family, Micky Og Devine, has called on human rights organisations to “bear witness” the unfolding events, requesting them to “step into the arena before deaths occur due to high levels of brutality and systematic torture” by French & Spanish State authorities. In the statement he also called for an “immediate cessation of the continuing ‘Show Trials’ against the political activists”.

“I and countless others around the world have been following this latest round of injustice which has been simmering over the past number of years in both French and Spanish goals. In the last few years the Spanish state has illegalized dozens of social-political and cultural organisations of the left which all are non-armed, under the anti-terrorist laws. Basically it’s erasing out of the equation all those politically opposed to the establishment.

“The Spanish authorities have been attempting to link PCE (r) and GRAPO as one sole organisation for the last 25 years without success. Now they are seeking assistance from neighboring France for it to arrange new laws that will permit, or to achieve their agenda.

“Isolation, torture and abuse have been relentless ever since their capture and imprisonment. They will try anything to break them down. I would call on those who monitor human rights violations to bear witness to what has been developing both in France and in the Spanish state, step into the issues involved here before deaths occur due to high levels of brutality and systematic torture. Greater solidarity is needed at this time for those incarcerated.

“We are now in the era of mass pacification, were anyone who attempts to stand up against injustice and oppression, protests or struggles politically against the establishments rule, are likely to be silenced and that is clearly a matter of fact.

“We don’t need new laws or further regulations to justify internment by state forces without trail, torture and even murder. The state is already carrying these activities out without hesitation or hindrance. And this is not an isolated occurrence against political activists in France, in the Spanish State, or in the hellholes of Turkey as it is an unwritten policy alive and well in the occupied six counties.

“I am reminded of the miscarriage of justice victim, Tyrone man John Brady, a republican activist who has been held in goal since his detention back in June 2004 with not a single charge against him. That was until trumped up charges appeared in September 2005 concerning the murder of a British soldier in 2002, the case itself is remarkably similar to that of Derry republican Seamus Doherty, now freed following widespread protests by his family, friends and neighbours against a host of false charges.
“In order to fulfill their pursuit the imperialist states are going to do anything they can to silence any voices of resistance by locking them up in isolation, torturing them, denying them basic rights, such as communication with one another as political prisoners or defence of themselves. That’s why the nine communist, anti-fascist and a prisoners solidarity activists that the state wanted to put away in order to diminish any political opposition in the region (France or Spain), had to carry out a hunger strike.

“A scene, only too familiar to that of my own family and that of other families of former political prisoners as we draw near to the 25 anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike.

“This may be seen by some as an isolated issue however you can be sure that other states are watching very closely at these unfolding developments just as many did whilst my father and his comrades and our class fought back against British imperialism during 1981 hunger strike. It is now policy of the imperialist states to hunt political activists that can be seen as a threat for any involvement in the building of a successful working class resistance movement.

“On behalf of myself and the Devine family, I would like to offer our heartfelt support and solidarity in your struggle, and the strength to stand against continuing oppression and unremitting brutality. You are not alone in at this time, the whole world is watching!”

Micky Og Devine

Stop The Show Trails!
Stop The Torture!

RTE

26 November 2005 17:58

In an escalation of the Irish Ferries dispute, port workers at Dublin and Rosslare have announced they will turn away the MV Normandy which is due to arrive from France tomorrow.

The ship is due to leave France for Rosslare this evening.

Meanwhile, Irish Ferries has denied a newspaper report that it considered the use of tear gas when another vessel was taken over by ship’s officers last December.

However, the reporter who wrote the story, Gerald Flynn, has said his personal notes bear out the article that appeared in today’s Irish Independent.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, Minister John O’Donoghue said that if the reports were accurate, the government would examine what criminal charges could be brought against the company’s management.

In a separate statement, Irish Ferries denied that their security personnel were carrying any kind of weaponry, saying they were only there to protect equipment.

Trade union reps denied access to crew members

In Holyhead, trade union representatives said they have been denied access to crewmembers of the Irish Ferries vessel, Ulysses, in the worsening dispute at the company.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation claims a member of the British seafarers’ union, NUMAST, was refused permission to board the ship.

The Federation has also claimed the crew on the Ulysses are not free to leave the ship.

Irish Ferries services across the Irish Sea are suspended, and are not expected to resume until Monday at the earliest.

The Ulysses is one of two vessels stranded in Welsh ports, as Irish crewmembers demand the removal of security personnel and foreign agency workers.

This is the third day of the standoff.

Indymedia Ireland

by Des Dalton - Republican Sinn Féin Saturday, Nov 26 2005, 2:42pm
saoirse@iol.ie

Statement by Republican Sinn Féin Vice President Des Dalton

Republican Sinn Fein are calling for a boycott of Irish Ferries as we believe this is the most effective way people can show support and solidarity to the workers of Irish Ferries.

These workers are currently locked in a dispute which goes to the root of what a Trade Union Movement is about. This dispute is a defining moment for the Irish Trade Union Movement; the support of IBEC for Irish Ferries is ominous and has echoes of William Martin Murphy’s Employer’s Federation attempt, during the 1913 lockout, to beat into submission ordinary working men and women. What is happening now is an attempt to roll back the hard fought for rights and working conditions won by Irish workers in the years since 1913.

This is a challenge that must be met head on. The stakes are high; a victory for Irish Ferries would give the green light for wholesale exploitation. What we are witnessing is the playing out of the globalisation agenda, a world where the most vulnerable, in this case migrant workers, are exploited and used to set one section of the working class against the other. This is not simply an attack on the workers of Irish Ferries but is an attack on the pay, conditions and working time of every worker in Ireland. Republican Sinn Fein calls on every Irish working person to come out in support of the Irish Ferries’ workers day of action’ on Friday next, December 2.

Ends

http://www.rsf.ie/

BreakingNews.ie

26/11/2005 - 10:29:12

Irish Ferries have denied a report published in today’s Irish Independent that the company sanctioned the use of tear gas by security personnel on board its vessels Isle of Inishmore and Ulysses.

The company also denies reports that security personnel on board were equipped with weapons.

Irish Ferries have cancelled all weekend crossings due to industrial action as the tense stand off between the company and workers shows no signs of abating.

SIPTU members remain in control of two of the company’s vessels which have been prevented from setting to sea now for two days.

The action came to a head on Thursday when overseas’ workers and security staff were deployed on board the Isle of Inismore and Ulysses ferries.

The worker’s union is now threatening to mount blockades of ports unless the security personnel and agency crews are removed.

BreakingNews.ie

26/11/2005 - 10:42:21

Anti-incineration campaigners are protesting in Ringsend in Dublin today after the Environmental Protection Agency granted licences for two for incinerators in Meath and Cork yesterday.

Locals in Ringsend fear the go-ahead will now be given to what would be one of the biggest incinerators in Europe.

Green Party TD John Gormley says increased political pressure needs to be put on the Government to halt the process.

He’s accused the Government of back-tracking on promises not to push ahead with incineration and has pledged that the Green Party will step up their campaign against incineration.

Belfast Telegraph

Police and NIO involved, says UPRG

By Chris Thornton
25 November 2005

UDA representatives have started the “full process of engagement” they wanted to determine the group’s future, a senior loyalist political representative said today.

Newtownabbey councillor Tommy Kirkham said the Ulster Political Research Group has opened contacts with the NIO, senior police, ceasefire monitors and the Republic’s Government on the UDA’s behalf.

On Remembrance Sunday, Mr Kirkham read a statement from the UDA leadership saying the group has “a clear understanding on the future”.

“We are open-minded and waiting on contact,” the statement added.

“That contact has come,” Mr Kirkham said. “At this minute in time, it’s a full process of engagement. We’re moving on all fronts.”

The UPRG is scheduled to have separate meetings with Secretary of State Peter Hain and Political Development Minister David Hanson next month.

Mr Kirkham said the UPRG met Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland and other senior police officers last week and also “agreed a way forward” with the Independent Monitoring Commission.

“There is other progress,” he said. “They have renewed contacts in southern Ireland as well.” The UDA has also returned to discussions with General John de Chastelain’s Decommissioning Commission.

Mr Kirkham said an internal consultation process conducted by the UDA had indicated it is possible to “come to some arrangement about the future of the UDA”.

The Rev Mervyn Gibson, a member of the Loyalist Commission, a group that brokers contact between the main paramilitary groups, said he believes both the UVF and UDA are “facing in the right direction”.

But he warned that the process of winding up those organisations would not be taken simply in response to the IRA ending their armed campaign.

“I think there could be significant momentum over the next 12 months,” he said.

He said an internal discussion document circulated within the Loyalist Commission had identified a resolution of the parades dispute as a central issue.

BBC

Paul Murphy said community balance was important

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy has admitted he felt, while in office, the reduction in district councils from 26 to seven was too much.

Secretary of State Peter Hain announced the measure as part of the biggest shake-up in Northern Ireland’s local government for more than 30 years.

Mr Murphy said he had looked at a compromise between 11 and 15 councils, as favoured by most local parties.

“You have to ensure nationalists and unionists can work together,” he said.

Mr Murphy said the final consultation on the changes had not taken place before he left office.

CHANGES TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
26 councils reduced to seven super councils
Maximum of 50 councillors per council
Planning responsibility returns to councils
Assembly members not allowed to sit on councils
Councils to devise community plan for delivery of local needs

Click to view

He added: “I’m absolutely sure I would have stuck to that sort of number before.”

Sinn Fein was the only party to back the proposed seven-council structure, with the others favouring a reduction to 15.

The government predicted £200m a year savings by the plan which is expected to be implemented over four years.

It encompasses changes in various areas including health and education administration.

The move follows a Review of Public Administration which was set up by Stormont.

Mr Hain said the total number of public bodies in health, education and local government was being cut from 67 to 20.

Each of the seven councils - three in the west, three in the east, and a council in Belfast - will have a maximum of 50 councillors each.

The dual mandate allowing people to serve as Northern Ireland Assembly members and councillors will also be removed. At present this applies to 69 of the 108 assembly members.

Key decisions will be taken on a cross-community basis and in future councils will also have responsibility for a number of major functions like planning and local roads.

Derry Journal

Friday 25th November 2005

Derry MP Mark Durkan has launched an astonishing attack on Sinn Fein accusing it of ’selling out’ the families of state murder and collusion for the greater advantage of getting IRA people back to the North with no questions asked. Mr. Durkan is urging Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams to now tell the British government to “call the whole thing off” and withdraw the OTR (On the Runs) legislation.

Speaking to the ‘Journal’ yesterday as he met with the two governments at Hillsborough, Mr. Durkan stated: “If Gerry Adams really did not know that the OTR legislation would apply to state murderers and colluders, why did Conor Murphy fly over to Westminster to welcome the legislation the day after Peter Hain made public that it would apply to them? “To be fair to Martin McGuinness, he made Sinn Fein’s real position clear. When the SDLP criticised the legislation for letting state killers off the hook, Martin McGuinness, on BBC’s “Hearts and Minds” programme, dismissed our concerns and said that he did ‘not envisage that any people who were involved in the murders of nationalists … is ever going to be brought before a court in this day and age’.

“He admitted that state killers would be able to get the benefit of the legislation but said that the people who would ‘gain most advantage from this are those nationalists and republicans who are on the run for over 30 years’.” Not once in the interview did he say that the legislation should not apply to state killers. “So there you have it in Martin McGuinness’ own words. In return for the greater advantage of getting their on the runs back with no questions asked, Sinn Fein sold out the families that for years they claimed to fight for. They let state killers and loyalists totally off the hook. “But if a panicked Gerry Adams is now changing position, there is a simple thing that he must do: call on Tony Blair to withdraw this legislation immediately and entirely. That is what Gerry Adams must now do.

“The British have made clear that they do not like this legislation. So Sinn Fein should release them from the side deal and call the whole thing off,” concluded the Foyle MP. There were emotional scenes in the British parliament this week as legislation granting an amnesty to on-the-run [OTRs] fugitives was given its second reading. Under the controversial law, those wanted by police for offences committed before the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 will be free to return home without any court charges.

The government, which faced significant opposition to the proposal from Northern Ireland and opposition MPs, said it was necessary to kick-start the stalled peace process. Gerry Adams insisted yesterday that the original proposals agreed at Weston Park in a statement by the two governments did not involve members of the British Crown forces.

“The legislation which was brought forward by the British Government was in breach of commitments made to us, going back seven years,” he said yesterday. Speaking in Dublin, the West Belfast MP said he also wanted to see all uncompleted aspects of the Good Friday Agreement resolved. “Hundreds of families have been bereaved through the direct actions of the British Crown forces and none of those soldiers have been held accountable. “And hundreds more have been bereaved through the policy of collusion pursued as an administrative practice by British governments for a very long time.”

Daily Ireland

Connla Young

A campaigning Co Antrim great-grandmother yesterday slammed the PSNI for failing to tackle drug dealers with links to loyalist paramilitaries who target children in their area.
Eileen Wright from Lisburn hit out after she and a friend were asked to present themselves at a local police station.
This followed complaints made by suspected drug dealers desperate to break the women’s will to banish dealers from their district.
The women, along with mothers from a number of estates in the sprawling city, have campaigned for several months to force dealers from the area.
The community campaign is centred on the city’s Tonagh estate.
A gang of drug dealers with links to the Loyalist Volunteer Force has been operating in the estate for the last few years.
Earlier this week, the PSNI told Mrs Wright to attend Lisburn PSNI station to answer allegations of intimidation.
The PSNI has come in for criticism recently for failing to deal directly with Lisburn’s growing drugs scourge.
Speaking to Daily Ireland last night, Mrs Wright remained defiant.
“They asked me if I would like to come down to the police station.
“The woman I spoke to said the drug dealers have made allegations that I was involved in putting up anti-drugs posters in the area.
“I told her I’m 19 stone [121 kilograms], 62 years of age, riddled with arthritis and hardly able to put my foot across the gate so I certainly wasn’t involved in putting posters up.
“I’m not wasting my time answering allegations made by drug dealers, allegations that are not true.
“I told the policewoman it would be a waste of her time and mine.
“If they have evidence, they can arrest me but I’m not going to that police station. What happens after that, I don’t know.
“They think, by asking me to come to them, they are doing me a favour. We’re on the streets to protect our children.”
Mrs Wright and her fellow anti-drug campaigners have themselves been the victims of intimidation in recent months.
During a recent protest march, several known drug dealers took photographs of women taking part.
Mrs Wright is critical of the PSNI response to the drugs crisis.
“They are asking the public to give them information and, when they get it, they don’t do anything with it,” she said.
A spokesperson for the PSNI said the force was working to tackle the problem in Lisburn.
“Police are investigating a number of allegations of intimidation in the Lisburn area. Police are also proactively tackling the issue of drugs in the area.
“Between April ’05 and August ’05, £0.75 million [€1.1 million] of drugs have been seized in the Lisburn area, 27 arrests made in the same time period in relation to drugs, and 21 people have been charged and 33 reported for drugs offences.
“Police in Lisburn are fully committed to tackling all crime in the area and would appeal to the public for their assistance in doing so.”
The spokesperson was unable to say how many arrests related to people caught with drugs for personal use and how many related to dealers.

Daily Ireland

ZOË TUNNEY

Four Irish Ferries workers who remain holed up in one of the company’s vessels last night showed no signs of backing down.
Speaking to Daily Ireland from the engine room of the Isle of Inishmore ferry, the workers said they were determined to carry on their protest until management agreed to adhere to the recommendations of the Labour Court.
One of the workers, Gary Jones, said: “We are in good spirits and we all feel very determined. We will stay here for as long as it takes. We have nothing else to lose.
“Irish Ferries have whittled our terms of employment down to nothing and now they want to take our jobs. That is what we are doing this for.”
The four Irish Ferries ship’s officers — all members of the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union — barricaded themselves into the engine room of the vessel on Thursday afternoon. They did so after management brought two bus loads of foreign workers and security personnel aboard the ship.
The Isle of Inishmore was due to set sail for Rosslare at 2.30pm on Thursday but passengers were told to disembark. The ship was still stranded last night in Pembroke dock in Wales.
Gary Jones, John Curry, Brian Whitfield and Vincent Hetherington locked the door to the engine room, which is the central control unit of the vessel.
They have access to telephones and have been keeping in regular contact with the nine other Siptu members on board the ship.
Mr Jones said Irish Ferries management had not tried to contact or negotiate with them since they entered the engine room.
The executive council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called a special meeting for next Tuesday to discuss the latest wrangle in the dispute.
Congress organised the meeting on the back of calls from Siptu president Jack O’Connor for a national day of protest against the actions of Irish Ferries.
On Tuesday this week, Siptu members voted to serve a 14-day notice for strike action on the company.
The dispute began when Irish Ferries offered a redundancy package to 543 of its ship’s officers to make way for cheaper labour from outside the European Union.
Mr Jones said the dispute was not about foreign workers.
“We have no problem with workers from other countries but, if Irish Ferries want to employ them, let them pay them a fair wage and compete with the rest of the Irish labour force.
“Irish Ferries have to negotiate a union rate. Otherwise, they will get away with slave labour,” he said.
A ruling from the Irish Labour Court last week said Irish Ferries should honour its existing arrangements in the dispute over the outsourcing of staff on its Irish Sea routes.
Irish Ferries human- resources director Alf McGrath said the company had to employ cheaper labour to survive in the market.
“We’ve predicted that, if we don’t make costs-reduction changes adequate to meet the needs of competition, then we won’t have a company,” he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the current stand-off was an unacceptable resort to confrontation, which was not the way to conduct industrial relations. Labour Party TD Brendan Howlin accused Irish Ferries of thuggery. He blamed the company for destroying social partnership in Ireland.
“This stand-off is wrecking any agreement between the government and social partners. The onus is now on the government to act like never before,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph

Writer’s family is torn apart by thugs

By Ashleigh Wallace
awallace@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
26 November 2005

THE wife of Ulster playwright Gary Mitchell has revealed how a spate of intimidation at the hands of loyalist paramilitaries has resulted in her family being torn apart.

Speaking last night, Alison Mitchell said the intimidation reached a peak earlier this week when their family home in Glengormley was petrol bombed.

Gary’s elderly grandmother, who lived in Rathcoole for over half a decade, died this week.

However, the Mitchell family - including Gary’s parents Chuck and Sandra - were warned they would be targeted by loyalists if they returned to the estate to pay their respects. The stress of the situation became so bad that Chuck had a heart attack.

Both Gary and Alison have been warned not to return to their home, which was targeted on Wednesday night. The couple and their seven-year old son Harry are now sleeping on floors of their relatives’ houses.

A distraught Alison said: “The intimidation started two years ago when Gary made a film about loyalists called The Beast Sleeps. He started filming in Rathcoole, where he is from, but was told to get out.

“When Gary and I got married, we moved to Glengormley but in the past seven months our family have been subject to terrible intimidation.

“Chuck and Sandra have been forced out of their home in Rathcoole and Gary’s sister and her young daughter also had to flee from the area.

“They tried to intimidate Gary’s granny but she refused to be forced out. She died this week and we’ve told not to come into the estate.

“Her dying wish was to be buried from her home and we couldn’t fulfil that wish.”

Alison said the petrol bombers struck sometime around 9pm on Wednesday.

She said: “A guy tried to get into the house and another one wrecked our car. My little boy was screaming, saying he was going to die.

“My father in law collapsed, had a heart attack and was rushed to hospital.

“Gary’s uncle Geordie also had his home attacked on Wednesday night. He’s disabled and after what happened, he’s now in hospital.

“We’ve been advised by the police not to return home for our safety.

“I don’t even know where we’re going to stay tomorrow night.

“We are supposed to be living in a peaceful society now and are lives have been shattered by these rogue paramilitaries.”

BBC

Road service gritters have worked throughout the night

Many people across Northern Ireland have been coping with the effects of last night’s icy weather.

Gritters were out throughout the night and were still salting some main roads on Friday morning.

The Met Office has warned that more sleet and snow is forecast for Friday and through to the weekend.

The heaviest snow fell on Thursday night on higher ground, with lighter snow on lower roads becoming more severe through the night.

There were sub-zero temperatures in some places across Northern Ireland.

Extreme care

Road Service workers have been out, salting roads and ploughing where necessary but they say untreated roads are hazardous.

Spokesman Colin Brown said they had been helped by “a very accurate weather forecast”.

“Our winter service teams have been working very hard and continuously salting the scheduled network from lunchtime yesterday, Thursday, right through the evening, the night and indeed this morning,” he said.

“So the main roads, the scheduled roads are passable.

“We are certainly prepared for something similar again today, into tonight and into tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

“So we’re well prepared for another fairly heavy night of activity salting the network.”

The police are advising motorists to take extreme care, slow down and keep safe distances.

Some ferry services have been cancelled, though at the moment the airports are operating as normal.

Meanwhile, the Met Office said another band of snow was moving in from the north.

Motorists must exercise extra care as forecast snow begins to fall, Northern Ireland’s Roads Service has said.

The Met Office has warned heavy snow and blizzards can be expected through to the weekend.

The police have said snow has been affecting the Antrim, Crumlin and Glengormley areas.

Arrangements are also in place to enlist the help of contractors - including farmers - to clear blocked roads.

A winter service leaflet is also available to help inform the public about winter driving and is available by calling 02890 540540 or from the Road Service website.

Meanwhile, the CCEA, the body responsible for setting the 11-plus exam, has issued said the test would go ahead as planned at 1000 GMT.

Neil Anderson from CCEA said parents and staff involved in the transfer test should take due account of any warnings and make judgements about the safety of travel.

“If they do deem that it is safe to make a journey, they should make sensible adjustments to normal travel time to make sure they arrive on time,” Mr Anderson said.

However, he reassured people that any child who missed the test because of transport difficulties would be able to take the supplementary exam in mid-December.

Wikipedia

**This article is available for edit onsite. Of special interest is the archived radio interview in ‘Sources’

Seán Mac Stíofáin (17 February 1928- 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.

Childhood

Although he used the Gaelicised version of his name in later life, Mac Stíofáin was born an only child as John Edward Drayton Stephenson in Leytonstone, London in 1928. While his father was English, his mother was of Protestant Irish descent but born in Bethnal Green, London. Contrary to popular myth, Mac Stíofáin never claimed his mother came from Belfast, but that “her people” did. His Protestant Unionist great-grandmother was born in Belfast. Thus, Mac Stíofáin’s Irish ancestry was tenuous to say the least.

His childhood was marred by his alcoholic, wife-beating father. His mother, who doted over her son, died when Mac Stíofáin was only 10. Nevertheless, Mac Stíofáin (who was baptized a Roman Catholic, doubtless at the behest of his mother, despite the fact that neither of his parents was Catholic) attended Catholic schools, where he came into contact with pro-Sinn Féin Irish Catholic students.

He left school in 1944 at the age of 16 and worked in the building trade before being conscripted into the RAF to do his national service in 1945. He attained the rank of corporal. After leaving the RAF, he returned to London where he became increasingly involved with Irish organisations in Britain. He first joined Conradh na Gaeilge, then the Irish Anti-Partition League, bought (and later sold) the United Irishman, joined Sinn Féin in London and eventually in 1949 helped to organise a unit of the IRA. He first met his wife, Máire, who was from Castletownroche, County Cork, Ireland. Mac Stíofáin then began work for British Rail.

Joins IRA

On July 25, 1953, Mac Stíofáin took part in an IRA arms raid on the Officers_Training_Corps School at Felstead in County Essex. In that raid, the IRA netted over 108 rifles, ten Bren and eight Stem guns, two mortars and dummy mortar bombs. The British police seized the van carrying the stolen weapons some hours later and on 19 August 1953, he was sentenced along with Cahal (or Cathal) Goulding and Manus Canning, to eight years imprisonment by a court in Bishop’s Stratford, Hertfordshire. In was in the run-up to the raid that Mac Stíofáin learned his first few words in Irish from Cathal Goulding. He later became fluent in the language, which he spoke with an English accent.

While incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs and Brixton prisons, he learned not only a smattering of Greek from the Cypriot EOKA prisoners (he befriended Nikos Sampson) but some ideas on guerrilla warfare.

Upon parole in 1959, Mac Stíofáin went to the Republic of Ireland with his wife and young family and settled in Dublin, and later Navan, County Meath, and became known under the Irish version of his name. Contrary to a number of accounts, this was not his first visit to the country and he had been to Ireland a month before the Felstead raid in 1953. He worked as a salesman for an Irish language organisation. He remained active in the IRA and gave the Bodenstown oration in 1959. A staunch and lifelong devoted Catholic, he distrusted the left-wing political direction – underway from 1964 – his erstwhile friend and IRA chief of staff, Cathal Goulding, was bringing the IRA. Appointed IRA Director of Intelligence in 1966, Mac Stíofáin was in a position to oppose the Goulding line and prepare the ground in the event of a split in the organisation. He was prominent in agitations in Middleton against ground-rent landlordism and against foreign buy-outs of Irish farmland in County Meath where he moved with his family in 1966.

A tall, well-built man, Mac Stíofáin was regarded as a rather dour personality who did not drink or smoke. He was a devout Catholic and was infuriated by an article in the United Irishman, condemning the reciting of the Rosary at republican commemorations as “sectarian”. For refusing to distribute the newspaper, he was suspended from the republican movement for six months. He was described by a former colleague as “a very rigid kind of person. He is not a person who thinks a lot. A courageous person in the physical sense, but at the same time not a person who has an accurate feeling about the situation in Ireland”.

Leads the Provisional IRA

When an IRA Special Army Convention voted to drop the principle of abstentionism in December 1969, Mac Stíofáin was prominent in the breakaway faction that later became known as the Provisional IRA. Indeed, he was appointed the organisation’s first chief of staff. At the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Dublin on January 10, 1970, Mac Stíofáin declared from the podium that he pledged his “allegiance to the Provisional IRA” before leading the walkout of disgruntled members to form what would become Provisional Sinn Féin.

The split also ended Mac Stíofáin’s friendship with Cathal Goulding, who went on to serve as chief of staff of the rival Official IRA. Goulding was scathing about “that English Irishman”.

According to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, it was Seán Mac Stíofáin, as chief of staff of the Provisionals, who invented the name “P. Ó Néill”. P. O’Neill is the name appended to IRA declarations to show that the statement is genuine.

Nicknamed ‘Mac the Knife’, Mac Stíofáin was a dedicated “physical force” republican, who believed that violence was the only means to bring about an end to British rule in Northern Ireland. In his autobiography, he set out the aims of the Provisional IRA as moving from “area defence” to “combined defence and retaliation” and then a “third phase of launching an all-out offensive action against the British occupation system”. He also gave a detailed account of his development of the tactic of the “one shot sniper”. He is said to have taken part in an unsuccessful attack on Crossmaglen RUC station in August 1969.

He disclaimed responsibility for the innocent civilian casualties of IRA actions by simply declaring: “It’s a war”. His military strategy was summed up in his own words by “escalate, escalate, escalate” and in 1972, by far the bloodiest year of the conflict, the IRA killed around 100 British soldiers and lost 90 of their own members.

On 7 July 1972, Mac Stíofáin led an IRA delegation to a secret meeting with members of the British government, led by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw, at Cheyne Walk in London. This was the Chelsea home of millionaire Tory minister, Paul Channon. Other IRA leaders in attendance were Dáithí Ó Conaill, Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams, Seamus Twomey and Ivor Bell. Very much in charge, Mac Stíofáin spelled out the three basis demands of the Provisionals: (1) The future of Ireland to be decided by the people of Ireland acting as a unit; (2) a British government Declaration of Intent to withdraw from Ireland by January 1975 and (3) the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

The British claimed this was impossible owing to the commitment it had given to unionists. The talks ended in failure, and as a briefing for prime minister Edward Heath later noted, Whitelaw “found the experience of meeting and talking to Mr Mac Stíofáin very unpleasant”. Mac Stíofáin said that Whitelaw put up his bluff exterior at first, but after a couple of minutes let it drop and showed himself to be a shrewd political operator; he also noted that Whitelaw was one of the few Englishmen to pronounce his name correctly.

Following the unsuccessful talks, Mac Stíofáin ordered an intensification of the IRA campaign which peaked on July 21, 1972, or Bloody Friday, when the IRA detonated 22 car bombs in less than two hours across Belfast, killing nine people and injuring 130. In his memoirs, Mac Stíofáin described the operation as “a concerted sabotage offensive” intended to demonstrate the IRA was capable of planting a large number of bombs at once.

At a meeting between British Prime Minister Ted Heath and Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch in Munich on September 4, 1972, the former asked the latter if Mac Stíofáin could be arrested. In reply, Lynch said that he had disappeared and that the evidence against him was flimsy.

On November 19, 1972, a controversial interview with Mac Stíofáin was broadcast on the RTÉ This Week radio programme. He was arrested on the same day and the interview was later used as evidence against him on a trial of IRA membership and on November 25 he was sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. Political fallout arising from the interview was considerable and some days later Fianna Fáil minister Gerry Collins sacked the entire RTÉ Authority.

Jailed in the Curragh Prison, Mac Stíofáin immediately embarked on a hunger and thirst strike. He was taken to the Dublin Mater_Hospital, from where an IRA unit, two of whom were disguised as priests, unsuccessfully tried to free him on November 26, 1972. Mac Stíofáin continued his hunger and thirst strike, which led to tumultuous scenes in Dublin and protests outside the Mater Hospital where he was visited by the then Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Dermot Ryan, and his predecessor, Dr. John Charles McQuaid.

Near to death after 57Citation needed days, he relented and took liquids, turning what had been expected by the republican leadership to become a major national protest into a farce. For “bringing the IRA into disrepute”, he was then ordered off his protest by IRA Army Council members Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill. Under the IRA constitution, Mac Stíofáin lost his rank upon arrest and he never again regained his influence within the IRA after his release in April 1973. He was also thenceforth referred to in republican circles, when at all, by his birth name.

Subsequent Activities

Afterwards he was sidelined, and was given a job of distribution manager of the Provisional Sinn Féin newspaper An Phoblacht/Republican News in the late 1970s. He resigned from the party in 1981 after a disagreement about strategy at the Ard Fheis (annual convention), when a majority opposed the Éire Nua policy, which envisaged the setting up of regional governments in each of the traditional four provinces on the island.

In March 1983 Mac Stíofáin appealed to the IRA to declare a ceasefire.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Mac Stíofáin became active in the Irish language organisation Conradh na Gaeilge. At that organisation’s centenery celebration held in Dublin’s O’Connell_Street in 1993, he was a guest of honour on the platform. He remained a member of the standing committee (Coiste Gnó) of Conradh na Gaeilge until his death.

Death

In 1993, Mac Stíofáin suffered a stroke. On May 18, 2001, he died in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, County Meath, after a long illness at the age of 73. He is buried in St Mary’s Cemetery, Navan.

Despite his controversial career in the IRA, many of his former comrades (and rivals) paid tribute to him after his death. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, who attended the funeral, issued a glowing tribute, referring to Mac Stíofáin as an “outstanding IRA leader during a crucial period in Irish history” and as the “man for the job” as first Provisional IRA Chief of Staff. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness also attended. In her oration, Ita Ní Chionnaigh of Conradh na Gaeilge, whose flag draped the coffin, lambasted Mac Stíofáin’s “character assassination” by the “gutter press” and praised him as a man who had been “interested in the rights of men and women and people anywhere in the world who were oppressed, including Irish speakers in Ireland, who are also oppressed”.

A number of former EOKA members also attended his funeral.

In 2001, Sunday Times journalist Liam Clarke claimed Mac Stíofáin was an informer on dissident republicans for the Garda Siochána from 1969. According to Clarke, Mac Stíofáin’s former Special Branch handler, the late Hugh McNeilis, claimed that: “I think he was doing it because he wanted to get rid of certain people.”

Writings

Mac Stíofáin, Seán, Memoirs of a Revolutionary, London (Gordon Cremonesi), 1975.

 

Sources

• “Death of the Englishman who led the Provisionals”, Observer, 20 May 2001 [1]
• “Sean MacStiofain dead, founded Provisional IRA”, Irish Echo Online, 23-29 May 2001 [2]
• “Adams and IRA’s secret Whitehall talks”, BBC News, 1 January 2003, [3]
• RTÉ This Week radio interview: [4]
• “Outstanding IRA leader and giant of a man in the Republican Movement“, Saoirse, June 2001.
• Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, “Seán Mac Stíofáin — a tribute“, Saoirse, June 2001.

BBCON THIS DAY

26 November 1972

Sean MacStiofain has refused to eat or drink for nine days

Eight armed men protesting against the imprisonment of Sean MacStiofain have tried to rescue him from a Dublin hospital.

MacStiofain - who has refused to eat or drink for nine days - was sentenced to six months imprisonment yesterday for being a member of the IRA.

Four men, two of them bystanders, were injured during a gun fight with Special Branch officers on the ward of the Mater Misericordiae hospital where the convicted IRA chief is being held.

But police said they had foiled the attempt and arrested seven of the attackers.

The gang arrived at the hospital near Mountjoy Prison in north Dublin just after dark.

A Garda spokesman said they were disguised as hospital workers and priests and were able to approach the floor where MacStiofain was being held without being suspected.

“But when they got within sight of the ward, handguns were produced and the shooting started,” he said.

Gun battle

The gunmen grabbed a nurse and three police officers, but a fourth was able to run into an adjoining office and radio for support.

The gun battle took place in a narrow passageway leading to the ward. A Special Branch officer was shot in the hand and one of the attackers was hit in the stomach.

Troops have been called to the hospital to help guard the building, but a police representative told reporters the situation was under control.

“There was never any danger of their getting MacStiofain out,” he said.

In Context

Sean MacStiofain was born John Stephenson in east London in 1928. He was brought up in England but had an Irish mother.

His involvement in Irish political groups began in his late teens and he joined the Irish republicans’ English movement - United Irishman - in the early 1950s.

By the time he was arrested MacStiofain was the IRA’s chief-of-staff, but was replaced after ending his hunger strike after 57 days - a sign of weakness in many republicans’ eyes.

He died in May 2001.

BreakingNews.ie

25/11/2005 - 17:46:27

Almost €2m has been paid out in compensation to the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and their families, it emerged today.

In a reply to a question by Dublin North Central Independent TD Finian McGrath, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said a total of €1,982,339 had been paid out to the victim’s families, those injured and support services.

A total of 37 people were killed in the atrocities between 1972 and 1974.

Three bus employees died in two explosions in Sackville Place in Dublin in December 1972 and January 1973.

In May 1974 three separate car bombs killed 26 people and an unborn baby in the capital, while seven people died in a fourth blast in Monaghan town on the same day.

Mr McDowell said that in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement a review of the arrangements to meet the needs of people who had suffered as a result of violence in the Northern Ireland conflict had been undertaken.

“As a result of this review, the Remembrance Commission and the scheme of acknowledgement, remembrance and assistance for victims in this jurisdiction of the conflict in Northern Ireland was established on October 29 2003. The scheme was further amended in October 2004.

“Payments which are made to victims or their families in accordance with the terms of the amended scheme are in respect of a death, economic hardship grounds, medical expenses and also towards the provision of counselling expenses.

“In addition the commission funds support groups working with victims of the conflict and their families.

“To date over €3m has been allocated from the scheme and paid to victims, to bereaved families and to victim support services as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

“This includes a donation of €1.25m to the Northern Ireland memorial fund.

“In addition to money paid out under this scheme, awards were made in the past to victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and their families by the criminal injuries compensation tribunal, which was established in 1974.

“Taken together, the total amount paid to date in respect of those who were either killed or injured in the 1972 to 1974 Dublin and 1974 Monaghan bombings and also to the support services dealing with the victims and their families, is €1,982,339,” Mr McDowell said.

BreakingNews.ie

25/11/2005 - 16:00:44

Unionists have launched a new bid to have murderers banned from a British government scheme to allow terrorist fugitives back into Northern Ireland without facing jail.

Even though the House of Commons has passed the latest stage of a bill which has provoked outrage, the DUP has tabled 55 amendments in an effort to thwart the legislation.

Their proposals also involve forcing those who benefit from the plans to serve at least a third of their prison sentence and for all inquiries into alleged security force wrongdoing during the conflict to be halted.

Other amendments include fixing a six-month time limit on applying for a certificate, and ordering applicants to attend a special tribunal.

Democratic Unionist MP Peter Robinson said: “This is a piece of legislation that we cannot support in any form as it is an affront to justice and an insult to the victims of the Troubles.

“Even if all of these amendments were passed, the Bill would still represent an unacceptable step for the government to take. But at least it would be an improvement on the total immorality of the current bill.

“We will use every Parliamentary opportunity to do all we can to block the passage of this legislation and the Government will be given a rough ride at every stage of legislation.”

Up to 150 so-called ‘On The Runs’ wanted for often horrific crimes committed before the April 1998 Good Friday Agreement would benefit from the scheme which the British government hopes will advance the political process in Northern Ireland.

Suspected terrorists who have been in hiding for years would have their cases heard by a special tribunal.

If convicted they would be given sentences but released on license without being imprisoned.

Although Sinn Féin has demanded their return to the North under what many have labelled an amnesty, republicans insisted police officers and soldiers who colluded in terrorist murders should not be included in the plans.

Their nationalist rivals in the SDLP, who opposed the bill, accused Sinn Féin of championing legislation that sets state killers free.

The party also claimed loyalist paramilitary drug dealers will be able to skip prison because the legislation refers to offences committed before April 1998 connected with terrorism, whether committed for terrorist purposes or not.

Alex Attwood, the SDLP’s policing spokesman, said: “It means that people who dealt drugs to raise money for loyalist paramilitaries will be eligible.

“If they are ever charged, they will not have to turn up in court. They will not have to face a single day in prison.

“Drug dealing and racketeering done to raise money for Loyalist Volunteer Force, Ulster Volunteer Force or Ulster Defence Association godfathers will therefore be covered.

“The same goes for IRA bank robbing and other crime before the Good Friday Agreement.”

The Northern Ireland Office stressed the eligibility of individuals and what offences are included would be down to the Certification Commissioner.

“In making decisions the commissioner will take account of information provided by the police and intelligence agencies,” a spokeswoman said.

“The legislation sets out strict criteria for the eligibility of individuals, referring to the behaviour of applicants – both terrorist activities and convictions for other serious offences – and the status of any organisation he or she supports.”

She added that the criteria was similar, if not stricter, to that drawn up for the early prisoner release scheme under the Good Friday Agreement.

“The Commissioner will have to consider whether an offence is connected to terrorism,” she said.

“It’s at present unclear whether charges would be brought against individuals for historic offences of the sort highlighted.”

Belfast Telegraph

Via Newshound

Eamonn McCann
24 November 2005

I suppose Francie Molloy can count himself lucky that it’s only from Sinn Fein membership that he’s suspended and not from the end of a rope.

Francie was accused at lunchtime on Tuesday of not only thinking things which Sinn Fein chiefs hadn’t approved, but of expressing them within earshot of voters. Within 90 minutes - give or take - Mitchel McLaughlin had conducted a preliminary hearing in his head and decided that Bobby Sands’ director of elections had a prima face case to answer. So he’s been cast beyond the Pale, pending a full hearing.

Mitchel helpfully explained yesterday that it’s his job as general secretary to take these difficult disciplinary decisions.

This came as something of a surprise to those of us who’d been reminded by Tuesday night’s Spotlight programme that in the wake of the killing of Robert McCartney, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams had personally suspended seven members of the party without, apparently, feeling a need to consult anyone else.

Are President Adams and General Secretary McLaughlin the only Sinn Fein officials with this awesome power to remove party members from the organisation at will? Or are there others? Could Sinn Fein, please, publish a list?

It is surely not healthy to have party members walking around not knowing whether it’s safe to look sideways at Barry McElduff.

I raise these matters only because no Sinn Fein member whom I managed to consult in the pub last night was clear about the procedures which had been followed in the Francie suspension. None could quote the party rule or policy decision which had conferred these unusual powers on the President and the General Secretary (and possibly on a range of others.)

I have to wonder, too, whether my old friend Mitchel isn’t being a mite foolhardy in exercising his disciplinary muscle with such evident alacrity.

I’d proceed with a certain circumspection, if I were in his defiantly unfashionable brogues.

It is Sinn Fein policy not to welcome or facilitate new investment in Northern Ireland unless the inward investor meets a number of conditions to do with ethical practice and workers’ right to trade union membership and representation.

The policy was enthusiastically endorsed a few years back by Sinn Fein’s supreme decision-making body, the Ard Fheis, the motion having been proposed by a Derry delegation led, if memory serves, by, er, Mitchel McLaughlin.

And yet, long hours fine-tooth-combing through Mitchel’s many subsequent pronouncements on economic policy have failed to yield a single example of this particular party policy being espoused.

Indeed, many may have formed an impression from Mitchel that there’s isn’t an unbridgeable gap between Sinn Fein policy on investment and workers’ rights and the policy of the DUP - or even of New Labour.

Is Mitchel not running the risk of finding himself sin-binned with Francie?

I suppose he’s safe enough if it’s only President Adams who’d have the clout to declare him non grata.

After all, Generalissimo Gerry isn’t averse to the odd solo run himself when it comes to economic matters.

There’s been a major kerfuffle down south in the past fortnight about the chances of the Shinners going into government with Fianna Fail.

Bertie Ahern says he won’t hear of it, on the ground that Sinn Fein economic policy would be fatal for the Celtic Tiger.

“Marxist,” the policy was described as, to the delight of those Shinners who are chuffed to be thought of as Marxists.

Right enough, higher income tax, higher capital gains tax, higher corporation tax, a 30% tax on banks, a desire to tax property and opposition to greater European integration - the policy mix would be bad medicine for Fianna Fail’s business friends.

But then I read in the Sunday papers that no less a person than General Adams himself has been giving “private briefings” to Dublin media outlets making it clear that it’s the peace process and the “equality agenda” which will be make-or-break for Sinn Fein in relation to coalition - not the party’s economic proposals, which will be “negotiable”.

Something of a pattern here, is there not?

When it comes to communal questions, issues of Orange versus Green, party members must offer no backchat, take their lead from the top, and stay in tune as they all sing the same song.

But on economic questions, on class issues, policy is there only for the optics. You can say anything you like, especially if it advances the party towards power.

Thus it was just days ago that Peter Hain gave an interview to a New York newspaper explaining that Britain now wanted to solve its Northern Ireland problem by privatising the whole place, and the only aspect of the interview which exercised Sinn Fein (or the DUP) was whether we are to be sold off on our own or as a job lot with the Republic.

Still. At least things are being clarified, are they not?

New York Times

By JACK BELL
Published: November 25, 2005

George Best, an Irish soccer star who captivated the public with his flamboyant skill on the field and his playboy exploits off the field, died today in London’s Cromwell Hospital of multiple organ failure, a hospital spokesman said. He was 59.

Associated Press

George Best, one of the most dazzling players in soccer history who also reveled in a hard-drinking, playboy lifestyle, died at age 59.

Mr. Best had been in the intensive care unit for a month, when his condition deteriorated drastically on Wednesday. Dr. Roger Williams, in charge of his care at the hospital, said that the former soccer star had internal bleeding, most likely from his bowel.

Mr. Best was hospitalized in 2000 for a liver condition and had a liver transplant in 2002. He had waged a lifelong battle with alcohol and lost.

“My father has passed away.” Mr. Best’s tearful son, Calum, told reporters on the hospital steps, according to Reuters. “Not only have I lost my dad but we’ve all lost a wonderful man.”

In the staid and tradition-bound world of English soccer during the 1960’s, Mr. Best quickly came to personify the rebelliousness of that decade. As soccer’s first pop icon, often compared to the American football star Joe Namath of the New York Jets, Mr. Best began his professional career with Manchester United, one of the most powerful clubs in England and the world.

Mr. Best was to soccer what the Beatles were music and pop culture: a reminder that the world was about to change, for better or worse. He made the game entertaining because he was an entertainer long before sportsmen became celebrities. He was a working-class hero in the most working-class British sport, continually sticking his finger in the eye of the establishment.

At the beginning of his career his antics off the field never seemed to affect his playing.

“If ever there was a greater player than George, I’ve never seen him, Jimmy Greaves, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, said in an Oct. 27 interview, Bloomberg News reported. “He was wonderful.”

Mr. Best joined Manchester United in 1961 as a 15-year-old apprentice from the public housing of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bob Bishop, Manchester United’s scout in Ireland, had discovered Mr. Best and sent a message to the club’s director, Sir Matt Busby: “I think I found you a genius.”

Mr. Best made his Manchester United debut at right wing on Sept. 14, 1963, against West Bromwich Albion and scored his first goal in only his second league appearance. The club won the English First Division (now Premier League) championship the next season, 1964-65, and again in 1966-67.

His brilliant yet tumultuous career in the north of England ended when he walked out on the club in 1974 at age 27 after having scored 137 goals in 361 league appearances for United and an additional 41 goals in 105 games in various domestic and international cup competitions.

Mr. Best played in his first international match for Northern Ireland at age 17 and made 37 international appearances, scoring nine goals. In November 1972, he was forced to withdraw from a game against Spain in Northern Ireland because of death threats against him from the Irish Republican Army. Mr. Best never played in the World Cup finals because Northern Ireland did not qualify until 1982.

Mr. Best dazzled the world with his prodigious dribbling skills , often taking a withdrawn position in the midfield, then dashing forward, the ball seemingly tethered to his foot. His touch of genius and individual flair on the field were matched only by his outrageous behavior off the field, which mesmerized and often incensed a sporting public that had come to expect its soccer stars to be seen on Saturdays and unheard the rest of the week.

Perhaps the apex of Mr. Best’s career came at Wembley Stadium in London in 1968, when he scored the eventual game-winning goal in Manchester United’s classic 4-1 victory over Benfica of Portugal in the European Cup final, the most prestigious club competition in Europe. Mr. Best was selected as the British Footballer of the Year in 1968 and the European Player of the Year in 1968.

That was only the beginning of Mr. Best’s roller coaster soccer career, from the pinnacle with Manchester United to the game’s backwater of forgettable lower-division clubs in Britain, Spain and Australia. He also played for three clubs in the North American Soccer League from 1976 to 1981, scoring 54 goals in 139 games.

Off the field, Mr. Best nurtured a playboy image that transcended the world of soccer. He built a mansion in Manchester and lived under police protection as he was besieged by hordes of girls.

With Mike Summerbee, a player for cross-town rival Manchester City, Mr. Best opened a number of fashion boutiques and hair salons. He also became the proprietor of a travel agency and several nightclubs. All the enterprises, however, were ultimately unsuccessful.

Still, Mr. Best’s popularity was unprecedented - during the 1960’s he received about 10,000 letters a week from fans around the world and employed three full-time staffers to answer them.

Frequent and unexplained upheavals with club management were seen at the time as the actions of an obstreperous, immature athlete. Later, it came to light that Mr. Best had a drinking problem. In 1982, while playing in San Jose, Calif., Mr. Best was suspended indefinitely by the club and entered an alcohol rehabilitation program. During a bankruptcy hearing in London in 1983 Mr. Best told the court, “I am an alcoholic.”

“My drinking over the last 12 years has been the root of my trouble,” he added.

In addition to his wife of nine years, Alex, from whom he separated in 2003, Mr. Best is survived by his son, Calum, from his first marriage.

Whatever off-the-field demons Best has dealt with, on the field he was famously infamous for some of his outrageous stunts in which he flaunted his skills while making the opposition feel impotent. With his speed, balance, vision and control of the ball, he would taunt opponents.

In one game he enraged the opposition when he tapped the ball off the shins of two defenders before setting off for the goal. He once needled a Chelsea defender by taking off his red Manchester United jersey and, foot on ball, waved the shirt in the defender’s face like a bullfighter. His theatrics resulted in his being treated savagely by opposing players, and his quick temper often led to confrontations on the field.

Always impetuous and outspoken, Mr. Best was inducted into the International Football Hall of Champions in Brussels in 2000, and caused a stir when he criticized the skills of David Beckham, a star for Manchester United at the time. “He cannot kick with his left foot,” Mr. Best said. “He cannot head a ball. He cannot tackle and he doesn’t score many goals. Apart from that, he’s all right.”

Several years ago Mr. Best summed up his life when he said: “I spent all my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”