I.R.A. a failure says defector

Press, 12 March 1982, Page 6

I.R.A. a failure says defector

NZPA London One of John McKeever’s first acts as a member of the Irish Republican Army was to smear some taps at Ebrangton army barracks in Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, with cyanide. “We waited for days, but nothing happened,” he disclosed yesterday in an exclusive interview with the London evening newspaper, the “Standard.” McKeever, who has defected from the Provisional 1.R.A., and is said to be on the run in fear of his life, said he had become disillusioned with the I.R.A.’s methods. “We have tried the bomb, and we have tried shooting and it hasn’t worked,” he told the newspaper. “A federal system of government is the only system that is going to work.” McKeever said that one of the early things that made him stop and think was the killing of a British Soldier in Londonderry “The soldier was in Northern Ireland because his girlfriend had just given birth to a baby that had died,” he said. “I believe that if there’s a war going on there has to be a certain amount of compassion.” The newspaper said that

when McKeever deserted he dumped a cache of explosive devices — 200 detonators, timing equipment, fuses, and detonating cord. He believed his action had foiled the expected Christmas bombing campaign in Britain and Northern Ireland. After deciding to quit the Provisionals, he had been helped to safety in England by a network of Roman Catholic priests. McKeever told the “Standard” that the I.R.A. had sent him to London where he progressed from being a little more than a messenger boy to the making of bombs and the maintenance of weapons. A very useful contact for one London unit had been an Irishman who worked in the House of Commons, he alleged. McKeever, who is 27 and comes from Derry, later became the London organiser of Sinn Fein, the I.R.A.’s legal political wing. His desertion is seen as another major blow to the morale of the I.R.A. after the recapture of a suspected bomber, Gerald Tuite, and a spate of security breaches, by informers. According to the newspaper, McKeever is now hiding in Europe.