Escapees from Irish Detention - 1973 Mountjoy Prison Helicopter Escape, Kenneth Littlejohn, Michael McVerry (Paperback)

Chapters: 1973 Mountjoy Prison Helicopter Escape, Kenneth Littlejohn, Michael Mcverry. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape occurred on 31 October 1973 when three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland, aboard a hijacked helicopter which briefly landed in the prison's exercise yard. The escape made headlines around the world and was an embarrassment to the Irish coalition government of the time, led by Fine Gael's Liam Cosgrave, which was criticised by opposition party Fianna F il. A manhunt involving twenty thousand members of the Irish Defence Forces and Garda S och na was launched for the escapees, one of whom, Seamus Twomey, was not recaptured until December 1977. The Wolfe Tones wrote a song celebrating the escape called "The Helicopter Song," which topped the Irish popular music charts despite being banned by the government. Following the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969, the Provisional IRA had conducted an armed campaign that sought to create a united Ireland by ending Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. As a result of increasing levels of violence in Northern Ireland, internment without trial was introduced in August 1971, and in the Republic of Ireland the coalition government led by Fine Gael's Liam Cosgrave was attempting to curb IRA activity. Fine Gael had come to power on a law and order ticket, with a policy of "getting tough on crime." Suspected IRA members were arrested and accused of IRA membership by a superintendent in the Garda S och na, a crime under the Offences against the State Act. They were tried at the juryless Special Criminal Court in Dublin, where the traditional IRA policy of not recognising the cou...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=1639545