Gerard Kelly (; born 5 April 1953) is an

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

on 10 April 1998. He is currently a member of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

's Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) and a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

(MLA) for North Belfast.

Early life

Gerard Francis Kelly was born on 5 April 1953 on Raglan Street in the Lower Falls area of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He went to St Finian's Primary School on the Falls Road. His family was not particularly political; however his grandfather was a supporter of the Labour Party. Kelly later went to St Peter's Secondary School, obtaining his O-Levels, before receiving his first job, aged 17, in the Civil Service as a clerical officer with the

Belfast Corporation Belfast City Council () is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while bein ...

Electricity Department. In 1971, Kelly joined the militant republican youth organisation,

Fianna Éireann Na Fianna Éireann (The Fianna of Ireland), known as the Fianna ("Soldiers of Ireland"), is an Irish nationalist youth organisation founded by Constance Markievicz in 1909, with later help from Bulmer Hobson. Fianna members were involved in se ...

. He was later arrested in August 1971 and imprisoned in

Mountjoy prison Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...

for several months. In January 1972 he escaped, and joined the Provisional IRA in the Whiterock/Ballymurphy area on his return to Belfast.

Old Bailey attack

The IRA planted four car bombs in London on 8 March 1973. Two of the car bombs were defused: a fertilizer bomb in a car outside the Post Office in Broadway and the BBC's armed forces radio studio in Dean Stanley Street. However, the other two exploded, one near the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

and the other at Ministry of Agriculture off

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

. As a result of the explosions one person died and almost 200 people were injured. Kelly, then aged 19, and eight others, including Hugh Feeney and sisters Marian and Dolours Price, were found guilty of various charges relating to the bombings on 14 November 1973. Kelly was convicted of causing explosions and conspiracy to cause explosions, and received two life sentences plus twenty years.

Imprisonment and hunger strike

Upon imprisonment in Britain, Kelly, and the other prisoners went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

demanding political prisoner status and to be transferred to prisons in Northern Ireland. After 60 days on hunger strike, during which he was force-fed by prison officers, Kelly was transferred to

HMP Maze HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

prison in Northern Ireland in April 1975. While imprisoned in the Maze, Kelly again went on protest and made a number of escape attempts in 1977, 1982 and 1983. On 25 September 1983, Kelly was involved in the Maze Prison escape, the largest break-out of prisoners in Europe since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and in UK prison history. Kelly, along with 37 other republican prisoners, armed with six handguns, hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out of the Maze past 40 prison officers and 28 alarm systems. During the escape Kelly shot a prison officer, who attempted to foil the escape, in the head with a gun that had been smuggled into the jail. The officer survived. After the mass break-out Kelly was on the run for three years and again became involved in IRA activity in Europe. Whilst on the run Kelly claimed he was aided in his escape by "all kinds of people", including prominent

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

and

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

supporters in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

.Killers party at Maze escape night
unison.ie; accessed 15 January 2016. On 16 January 1986, Kelly was arrested in the Netherlands along with Brendan "Bik" McFarlane at their flat in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. At the time of their arrest, cash in several currencies, maps and fake passports and the keys to a storage container holding 14 rifles, 100,000 rounds of ammunition and

nitrobenzene Nitrobenzene is an aromatic nitro compound and the simplest of the nitrobenzenes, with the chemical formula C6H5 NO2. It is a water-insoluble pale yellow oil with an almond-like odor. It freezes to give greenish-yellow crystals. It is produced ...

were recovered by the Dutch police. On 4 December 1986, the pair were extradited from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom by RAF helicopter and were returned to the Maze prison. On 2 June 1989, Kelly was released in line with the

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

conditions agreed with the Dutch authorities.

Political career

Upon leaving prison, Kelly became actively involved in politics, becoming a leading member of Sinn Féin. Kelly and fellow Sinn Féin member

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

both engaged in protracted secret negotiations with representatives of the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

from 1990 until 1993. Kelly also published a collection of poetry, ''Words from a Cell'', in 1989. Kelly played a role in the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...

negotiations that led to the

on 10 April 1998. In promoting the

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

he had talks with

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

and

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...

.Gerry Kelly profile
, sinnfein.ie; accessed 15 January 2016. On 27 June 1998, he was elected to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

. He was Deputy Chair of the Social Development Committee in the 1998-2003 Assembly, and is currently Sinn Féin Spokesperson for Policing and Justice, and a political member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. In 2013, aged 60, Kelly was criticised by other MLAs (

Members of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...

) in Northern Ireland, for holding on to the front of a

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

vehicle, as it drove away with him during a protest in his constituency. Kelly was a Sinn Féin representative during the talks chaired by Richard Haass in 2013 on contentious issues in Northern Ireland. Kelly brought libel proceedings against a journalist who had talked in two 2019 radio interviews about the 1983 prison officer shooting. His case was dismissed by the Belfast High Court in January 2024 as "scandalous, frivolous and vexatious".

Cultural references

In the 2017 film ''

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

'' dramatising the 1983 prison break, directed by Stephen Burke, Kelly was portrayed by Irish actor Patrick Buchanan.

References

External links

*
On This Day - 1973: IRA gang convicted of London bombings
from BBC News

Northern Ireland Assembly
Gerry Kelly's "They work for you" pageNIA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Gerry 1953 births Escapees from British detention Irish republicans Living people Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Junior ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly (since 1999) Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Politicians from Belfast Prisoners accorded Special Category Status Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict Sinn Féin MLAs Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027