Martin J. Galvin (born January 8, 1950) is an

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

lawyer, publisher and activist, and former director of

NORAID NORAID, officially the Irish Northern Aid Committee, is an Irish American membership organization founded after the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969. The organization states its mission is to aid in the creation of a United Irel ...

Background

Galvin was born on January 8, 1950, the son of a fireman. He attended Catholic schools,

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

and

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

. He previously worked as hearing officer for the New York City Department of Sanitation. Galvin and his wife, Carmel, have a son.

Political activism

Galvin was the publicity director for the New York-based

, an

group fundraising organization which raised money for the families of

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 ...

prisoners, but was also accused by the American, British, and Irish governments to be a front for the supply of weapons to the

Provisional IRA 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 ...

. Galvin became a publisher of '' The Irish People'' in the 1980s. He was banned from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

because of a speech he gave that seemed to endorse terrorism. In August 1984 he defied the ban, and entered Northern Ireland from 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. ...

. The following year Galvin returned to Northern Ireland to attend a funeral for an IRA member killed when a makeshift grenade launcher he was trying to fire at a

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

barracks exploded. In 1989 Galvin was arrested and deported for violating the exclusion ban yet again. Galvin has criticised 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 ...

as a betrayal of republican ideals, and characterized IRA's decision to open up its arms dumps to

Independent International Commission on Decommissioning The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process. Legislation and organisation An earlier international bo ...

inspectors as a surrender. On 28 May 2016, he attended a commemoration for PIRA volunteer George McBrearty in Creggan.

References

External links

A Chronology of the Conflict - 1984
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galvin, Martin 1950 births Living people American people of Irish descent Fordham University School of Law alumni Irish republicans New York (state) lawyers People from the Bronx Activists from New York (state)