1983 escape IRIS
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IRIS
Where are they now? THE GREATEST ESCAPE
I
n the years since the escape from H7 of Long Kesh, the escapers have undergone a wide range of different experiences – though as occasional reunions between groups of them have shown, they retain a unique bond of comradeship which stems from that risk-fraught and gruelling day in September 1983 when each man recognised that the price of their failure might well be his death.
Overlying that bond are the many layers of common experience that had already been shared between them over many years, in many cases for over 20 years – their experiences as republican Volunteers in the struggle against British occupation; the interrogation centres such as Castlereagh, Strand Road and Gough where torture and brutality were the norm; their earlier respective experiences of imprisonment in Crumlin Road, the cages of Long Kesh, the H-Blocks, Portlaoise and England; the blanket and no-wash protests, previous escapes and escape attempts; and, worst of all, the experience that all had shared, whether in jail or on the streets, of the terrible sacrifice of the 1981 Hunger Strikes. All those experiences had given them the necessary discipline, determination, selflessness and courage to plan and execute the escape. It gave those who were successful the qualities to adapt to the hostile political environment in which they suddenly found themselves, where the Dublin Government was all too eager to capture and extradite as many of the men as possible back to the H-Blocks, and the British Government was ready to pull out all the political and diplomatic stops to secure the extradition of escapers wherever they might be – even if it meant distorting or changing the legislation of other countries to do so. Of the men who were not recaptured during or shortly after the escape, three subsequently lost their lives on renewed active service with the IRA. For those escapees who were never recaptured, they had to spend many years ‘on the run’ under assumed identities. Since this publication first appeared in 1993, The Good Friday Agreement opened the way to resolving the situation with republican exiles or ‘on 44
the runs’ and these are still being dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
his extradition were only resolved after a major protest was mounted by Irish American supporters and Artt was eventually allowed to remain in the United States
KEVIN BARRY ARTT The last of the 38 escapers to learn of the jailbreak plan, only two hours beforehand, Artt had only arrived in the H-Blocks a few weeks earlier, to begin a life sentence following the Christopher Black paid perjurer trial. Artt was one of the six prisoners who attempted to drive out of the jail in a commandeered screw’s car. Becoming separated from the other escapers after jumping out of the crashed car at the external gate, Artt made his way alone to Andersonstown in West Belfast on a stolen bicycle. En route, he was stopped at an RUC checkpoint where he gave the name “William Johnson”. He was taken to Lisburn RUC Barracks to have his identity checked, but was released after about an hour! After the escape, Barry Artt travelled to the USA, living first in San Francisco and then moving in 1986 to San Diego, where he worked as a successful car salesperson under the name Kevin Keohane. On 3 June 1992, he was arrested in San Diego by the FBI on passport violation charges and held in the Alameda County Jail in Dublin, near San Francisco. The British Government filed an application for his extradition, which was to be dealt with after the passport violation charges. The issues around Artt’s passport violations and the British government’s request for
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PAUL BRENNAN A former internee like many of the other escapers, Paul ‘Dutch’ Brennan from Ballymurphy in West Belfast was arrested in September 1976 and sentenced to 16 years. Brennan had a reputation for liking his food and – true to form – Jim Clarke recalls of the escape trek he and Paul were part of: “We were outside a farmhouse round the Gilford area. The boys were getting fed up by this stage, Paul Brennan wanted to have something to eat...” Brennan travelled to the USA in 1984 and settled in Berkeley, California in 1985 after meeting Joanna, whom he married in 1989. He has a 13-year-old step-daughter Molly. He was nearly killed a few years ago when, swerving to avoid a deer, his car plunged into a lake. Trapped, with the car filling with water, he was saved by Molly who had managed to free herself and call for help. Living under the names Richard Earl Martin and later, Pól Morgan, and working as a joiner, Brennan was arrested at home on 21 January 1993 and charged with passport violation offences. He was also charged and con-