Gerry Kelly
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- This article is about the Sinn Féin politician. For the UTV presenter of the same name, see Gerry Kelly (broadcaster).
Gerry Kelly (born 5 April 1953) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and convicted IRA bomber.
Gerry (Gerard) Kelly was born in Belfast and educated locally. He joined the IRA in 1972.
In 1973 along with the Price sisters and Hugh Feeney, Kelly was convicted of causing explosions and conspiracy to cause explosions in Britain. He received two life sentences plus twenty years. After a hunger-strike he was transferred to Long Kesh in Northern Ireland in 1975.
In 1983 he shot a prison warder in the head during his escape from the Maze prison [1]. In 1986 Gerry Kelly was recaptured in Holland along with Brendan McFarlane. Their flat in Amsterdam contained cash in several currencies, maps and fake passports and the keys to a container holding ammunition, rifles and bomb-making material. 14 rifles, 100,000 rounds, and about a ton of nitro-benzine, were also recovered by the authorities. They were extradited and sent back to the Maze prison. He was released in 1989 as a result of the conditions placed by the Dutch authorities on his extradition.
He is a member of the Sinn Fein's Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) and is a Sinn Féin Assembly Member for North Belfast.
[edit] References
- ^ Maze party with jelly and ice cream by Nicola Byrne, The Observer Special Reports, 21 September 2003
[edit] External links
- On This Day BBC Website
