Gibraltar
Sad are three homes in Belfast now
Old Ireland shares their sorrow
Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage, and Daniel McCann
They died on the streets of Gibraltar
They flew out of Belfast with an ambitious plan
To continue the struggle to free Ireland
Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage and Daniel McCann
And they died on the streets of Gibraltar
cho: Sad are three homes in Belfast now
Old Ireland shares their sorrow
As they walked in the sun the Brits drew their guns
And blood stained the streets of Gibraltar
The SAS stood there so proud of their deed
Three more freedom fighters lay dead in the street
They've been given no warning no chance to retreat
For three had to die in Gibraltar
The tune used for this song is the same as "Glencoe"
All notes below including all parentheses giving the background to the song are
copied and pasted from the CAIN website with the exception of the last (1995)
entry which comes from 'Republican News'.
Sunday 6 March 1988
Three unarmed Irish Republican Army (IRA) were shot dead by undercover members
of the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar. [The episode sparked intense
controversy and began a chain of events that lead to a series of deaths in
Northern Ireland. The British government claimed that the SAS shot the IRA
members because they thought a bomb was about to be detonated. Eyewitnesses
claimed that those shot were given no warning.]
Tuesday 8 March 1988
A car believed to belong to those killed in Gibraltar was found in Marbella and
was discovered to contain 140 pounds of high explosives.
Wednesday 16 March 1988
During the funerals, at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, for the three Irish
Republican Army (IRA) members killed in Gibraltar (6 March 1988) a Loyalist
gunman, Michael Stone, launched a grenade and gun attack on mourners. Three
people were killed and 50 injured. The whole episode was recorded by television
news cameras. The police and the army had withdrawn to avoid any confrontation
with the mourners. Stone was chased to a nearby motorway were he was attacked by
a number of mourners. The police arrived in time to save his life. The main
loyalist paramilitary groups denied any involvement with Stone. One of those
killed, Kevin Brady, was a member of the IRA.
Saturday 19 March 1988
During the funeral of Kevin Brady, killed at Milltown Cemetery (16 March 1988),
a car approached the funeral procession at high speed. It was claimed by some
present that they feared another attack by Loyalist gunmen. The car's passage
was blocked and a group of the mourners attacked the two passengers. The t
two soldiers in plain clothes in a republican district of Belfast was never
adequately explained.]
September 1995:
The European Court of Human Rights has found the British government guilty of
violating Article Two of the European Convention, which protects a person's
right to life. In the first decision of its kind against a government, the court
stated that the British had failed to uphold "the standard expected of a
democratic government" when they shot dead three IRA Volunteers in Gibraltar in
1988.
WH
Oct00
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!