Brian Keenan (hostage)

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This article is about Brian Keenan, the former hostage, not Brian Keenan (activist), the Irish Republican Army leader and bomber.

Brian Keenan (b. 1951 in Belfast) is a Northern Ireland writer whose work includes the book An Evil Cradling, an account of the five years he spent as a hostage in Lebanon.

1 Life
- 1.1 Cross-community relations
2 Works
3 Bibliography
4 External links
5 See also

[edit] Life

Keenan was born into a working class family in East Belfast in 1950. He left school early and began work as a heating engineer. However, he continued an interest in literature by attending night classes and in 1970 gained a place at the New University of Ulster in Coleraine. Other writers there at that time included Gerald Dawe and Brendan Hamill. In the mid 1980s Keenan returned to the Magee College campus of the university for postgraduate study. Afterwards he accepted a teaching position at the American University of Beirut. In April 1986, shortly after taking up the position, Keenan was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad. After spending several months in isolation, he was moved to a cell shared with the British journalist John McCarthy.

The British and American governments would not negotiate with terriorists and Keenan was effectively ignored. Because he was travelling on both British and Irish passports, the Irish government made numerous diplomatic representations for his release, working closely with the Iranian government. Throughout the kidnap they also provided support to his two sisters, Elaine Spence and Brenda Gillham, who were spearheading the campaign for Brian's release. He was released from captivity to Syrian military forces on August 24, 1990 and was driven to Damascus. There he was handed over by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to the care of Irish Ambassador, Declan Connolly. His sisters were flown by Irish Government executive jet to Damascus to meet him and bring him home. He returned to Northern Ireland where he now lives.

[edit] Cross-community relations

The Irish Government's role in representing someone who came from what was ostensibly a unionist background, together with Keenan's 'adoption' by the Irish people, were seen by many as important precursors to the normalisation of cross-community relations in Northern Ireland in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement.

[edit] Works

An Evil Cradling is an autobiographical book by Keenan about his five years as a hostage in Beirut. The book revolves heavily around the great friendship he experienced with fellow hostage John McCarthy, and the brutality that was inflicted upon them by their captors. It was the 1991 winner of the Irish Times Literature Prize for Non-fiction.

It was also enthusiastically reviewed:

The scope and grandeur of his reflections is supported by the concrete detail of his narrative. It is a moving and remarkable triumph.

Sebastian Faulks, Independent on Sunday

From the horror has come something wonderful. An Evil Cradling is a great book... With the publication of An Evil Cradling, Brian Keenan is not letting the world forget. This is a mighty achievement by a magnificent writer.

Frank McGuinness, Irish Times