Risking the Lives of Volunteers is Not the IRA Way Brendan Hughes • Irish News, 13 July 2006 In a recent BBC documentary Bernadette McAliskey stated that she would have let Sean McKenna die during the 1980 hunger strike in order to outmanoeuvre British brinkmanship. Implicit in her comments was a criticism of those senior republicans who decided against pursuing the option favoured by Bernadette. As the IRA leader in charge of that hunger strike I had given Sean McKenna a guarantee that were he to lapse into a coma I would not permit him to die. When the awful moment arrived I kept my word to him. Having made that promise, to renege on it once Sean had reached a point where he was no longer capable of making a decision for himself, I would have been guilty of his murder. Whatever the strategic merits of Bernadette's favoured option, they are vastly outweighed by ethical considerations. There are terrible things that happen in the course of any war. Those of us who feel obliged to fight wars must take responsibility for the terrible consequences of the actions that we initiate. I can live with that. In war we kill enemies and expect to be killed by them. I can stand over the military decisions that I made during our war against the British. But there are no circumstances in which I was prepared to make a cynical decision that would have manipulated events to the point where a republican comrade would forfeit his life 25 years on, I have no reason to change my mind that the decision I made to save the life of Sean McKenna was the proper one. Faced with similar circumstances I would do the same again. History may judge my actions differently, but preventing Sean McKenna from becoming history, rather than my own place in history, was my prevailing concern.                                                                                                                     Index: Current Articles + Latest News and Views + Book Reviews + Letters + Archives

There is no such thing as a dirty word. Nor is there a word so powerful, that it's going to send the listener to the lake of fire upon hearing it. - Frank Zappa Printer Friendly Index: Current Articles 17 February 2007 Brendan Hughes Archive Material 19 July 2006 Other Articles From This Issue: Dupe Process Anthony McIntyre Heatwave Won't Affect Cold Storage Dr John Coulter Hanson's Handouts John Kennedy Israeli State Terror Anthony McIntyre Judgement Day John Kennedy Israel, US and the New Orientalism M. Shahid Alam The Right, the Need to Resist Mick Hall An Invitation to My Neighborhood Fred A Wilcox Prison Fast RPAG Death Brings Fr Faul Anthony McIntyre Risking the Death of Volunteers is Not the IRA Way Brendan Hughes Principles and Tactics Liam O Ruairc The Framing of Michael McKevitt: Preliminary Hearings Cont'd. Marcella Sands The Framing of Michael McKevitt: Rupert's Reward Marcella Sands The Framing of Michael McKevitt: Rupert's Inconsistencies Marcella Sands Blast from the Past John Kennedy An Elegant End Seaghán Ó Murchú West Belfast - The Past, the Present and the Future Davy Carlin • 9 July 2006 • Father Faul Saved Many Lives Richard O'Rawe Richard O'Rawe, PSF, and Events in 1981 Gerard Foster Looking Back on 1981 Anthony McIntyre Haughey and the National Question Maria McCann Brits Not to Blame for Haughey David Adams Greenfest John Kennedy Euston Manifesto: Yesterday's News Mick Hall Considering A Multi-Faceted Approach to the Middle East Mehdi Mozaffari Book Better Than Its Title Seaghán Ó Murchú Crowning Mr Unionist Dr John Coulter Extra Time Will Not Be Decisive David Adams 'Pretty Much a Busted Flush' Anthony McIntyre Orangefest John Kennedy Just Books Web-launch Jason Brannigan The Framing of Michael McKevitt: Omagh, David Rupert, MI5 & FBI Collusion Marcella Sands The Framing of Michael McKevitt Marcella Sands The Framing of Michael McKevitt: Preliminary Hearings Marcella Sands Jury Duty Free State Dolours Price Even the Obnoxious Anthony McIntyre

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