Veteran republican Rita O’Hare has died, it was announced today.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said “Ireland has lost a genuine patriot”.
Ms O’Hare spent many years as Sinn Féin’s representative in the US. In 1972, she was arrested for the attempted murder of a British Army officer in Belfast.
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She was released on bail and fled to Dublin, where the High Court ruled that she could not be extradited to the UK. Ms O’Hare later served three years in Limerick Prison after being convicted for attempting to smuggle explosives to IRA prisoners.
In 2019 she returned to Dublin from the US where she had worked for around two decades.
Announcing the death Mary Lou McDonald said: “I am deeply saddened to announce the death of Rita O’Hare, who passed away at her home in Dublin last night. On my own behalf and that of Sinn Féin, I wish to offer heartfelt condolences to Brendan and to all the family.
“Ireland has lost a genuine patriot. Sinn Féin has lost a talented and valued comrade and we have all lost a very special and very dear friend. Suaimhneas sioraí dá hAnam.”
She added: “I am deeply saddened by the news that Rita O’Hare - a powerhouse within Sinn Féin and the Irish republican struggle - has died. It is a sad day for Republicans throughout the length and breadth of Ireland and for Rita’s many friends beyond these shores, particularly in the United States. But above all, this is a devastating loss for Rita’s husband Brendan, her children Terry, Frances, Rory and Ciaran, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, her brother Alan and members of the wider family.
“Rita O’Hare has been an influential Republican activist for decades and an important figure in the Irish Peace Process. An integral part of the Sinn Féin leadership at important stages of the party’s development and during era-defining stages of the Peace Process, Rita worked with great drive, energy and ability for the unity of Ireland, for a more just society, and for the cause of peace and reconciliation.”
Mary Lou McDonald said O’Hare’s mother Maureen was from the Short Strand, while her father Billy was a socialist and internationalist who was born a Protestant in East Belfast to an English father and Welsh mother.
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