An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir January / February 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 34 | THE KIDNAPPING: A HOSTAGE, A DESPERATE MANHUNT AND A BLOODY RESCUE THAT SHOCKED IRELAND. The Troubles in Northern Ireland witnessed a sustained terrorist campaign by the Provisional IRA (PIRA) that was unparalled in its sustained intensity and level of violence that no other country in Western Europe experienced following the Second World War. While the main focus of the PIRA campaign was within Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic (ROI) was often not immune to 'spillover' effects from the conflict. Indeed throughout the period of the Troubles much of the focus of the Irish Defence Forces (DF) was in Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) in support of An Garda Síochána in trying to contain the very real threat posed by PIRA. At this remove, except for the generation who experienced this period of turmoil, it can be underestimated just how unstable and visceral a period this was. Following the adapatation of PIRAs "Long War" strategy from the late 1970s PIRA took a conscious decision to fund their 'war' through a combination of bank robberies and later kidnappings in ROI. The British actor, Robert Shaw, a resident in County Mayo, famous for his role in Spielberg's Jaws, to the probable dismay of Bord Fáilte while a guest on the US Dick Cavett show argued that; "the South of Ireland is ruined economically, all the hotels are closing, it was OK [the South] but its [violence] creeping into the south, they [PIRA] rob the banks." The most infamous kidnapping in Ireland in the 70s was that of the Dutch industrialist Tiede Herrema by Eddie Gallagher and Marian Coyle in October 1975. While the initial kidnapping was perfectly executed, the hideout chosen in the middle of a housing estate at Monasterevin, County Kildare, left the kidnappers no opportunity of escape when surrounded by Gardaí after a prolonged intelligence led operation. In February 1983, PIRA even kidnapped a famous racehorse, Shergar from Ballymany Stud in County Kildare (allegedly they killed the horse shortly thereafter). This lesson was not lost on the kidnappers of Don Tidey, a senior supermarket executive, who was seized by PIRA on his way to work in Dublin in late November 1983 and quickly brought to a 'hide' at Derrada wood in the remote wooded borderlands outside Ballinamore in north County Leitrim. In their work "The Kidnapping," the authors Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevey recount this fraught period in our recent history. They predicate the genesis of the kidnapping on the Maze prison breakout. Following the visceral period of the Hunger strikes in 1981, PIRA achieved a huge propaganda victory in the largest mass prison breakout in British history when on September 25th 1983, 38 PIRA prisoners escaped from the Maze Prison (Long Kesh). While many were quickly recaptured a number remained at large and several of these hardened terrorists were to be the PIRA Active Service Unit (ASU) tasked with guarding Tidey in the wet and freezing cold conditions that prevail in an Irish winter. Acting on a series of linked intelligence, a massive joint Army/Garda Cordon and Search Operation was conducted in the Ballinamore hinterland of County Leitrim. Codenamed Operation Santa Claus, it was launched on Tuesday December 13th 1983 and consisted of ten separate search teams, with the nomenclature of Rudolph 1-10. On the early afternoon of Friday 16th December, in fading winter light, the members of Rudolf 5 entered Derrada wood a little more than a mile from Derrada Post office, one hundred and fifty yards from the tar road on a wooded slope. The terrain was unforgiving, young plantation trees choked in brambles, briars and dense undergrowth. Within it, Don Tidey was literally caged for more than twenty days, displaying remarkable resilience and fortitude throughout his ordeal. Two figures were observed in combats who remained silent when challenged, the brief ensuing silence was broken by a fusillade of shots in which Private Patrick Kelly of the 6th Infantry Battalion and Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan were mortally wounded. Within seconds a stun grenade was also thrown at the search party adding to the ensuing chaos, no shots were fired by the Irish Security Forces in the incident. In the confusion Don Tidey managed to escape and was rescued but the PIRA ASU also managed to exfiltrate themselves from the area, briefly taking two Gardaí and one soldier hostage. Despite the suggestion that "a ring of steel" had been put in situ the PIRA ASU made good their ultimate escape. For the Irish Security Forces the success in freeing Don Tidey and returning him to his family was made bittersweet by the escape of the PIRA ASU and a number of additional security blunders in the following days where some of the gang might have been apprehended. It led to much more honed co-operation and training in the coming years in "Cordon and Search" operations. It was also a salient lesson to both the Gardaí and Irish Army that despite the supposed prohibition in PIRAs 'Green Book' on not targeting Southern Security Forces, that when 'cornered' PIRA members displayed utter ruthlessness and callousness with little hesitation in using lethal force. One of the strengths of this highly readable and accessible work, based on meticulous research in outlining the background to the kidnapping against the backdrop of the Troubles; is also the ongoing trauma of the two respective families of Garda Gary Sheehan and Private Patrick Kelly who died so tragically in the service of the State. The day after Don Tidey was successfully rescued, the PIRA "English Department" exploded a car bomb outside Harrods Department Store in London, the blast killed three police officers and three civilians, also injuring some 90 people. The IRA Army Council said it had not authorised the attack and expressed regret for the civilian casualties. Provide by Dr Rory Finegan (Comdt Retd) Publisher: Penguin, Sandycove ISBN 978-1-844-88663-0 Pages: 369 Price: €16.99

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