Charles Breslin

Charles Breslin
Born(1964-09-05)5 September 1964
Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Died23 February 1985(1985-02-23) (aged 20)
Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Other namesCharlie
Known forKilled in the Strabane ambush
Military career
Paramilitaries
RankOfficer Commanding
UnitWest Tyrone Brigade
Battles / warsThe Troubles

Charles "Charlie" Breslin (5 September 1964 – 23 February 1985) was a volunteer in the West Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army from Strabane, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.[1][2][3][4][5]

Background

Breslin was from the "Head of the Town" area in Strabane, close to the Irish border with Lifford, County Donegal. Breslin joined Na Fianna Éireann, an Irish republican Scouting movement, at the age of 15.[6][7]

Paramilitary activities

See also: Strabane ambush

On 23 February 1985, Breslin, Michael Devine (22) and David Devine (16), all volunteers in the Provisional Irish Republican Army, were shot dead by undercover Special Air Service soldiers, while returning arms to a dump in a field off Plumbridge Road, Strabane.[8]

The undercover soldiers were aware of the arms dump after being tipped off by an informer. Over 200 shots were fired at the trio and Breslin was hit 13 times.

Shoot-to-kill policy

There were claims that the deaths were part of a wider British government "shoot-to-kill" policy in which republican paramilitaries were summarily executed without any attempt at arrest.[4][6][9]

The families of the three IRA members that were killed claimed they were ambushed after a stake out by the SAS. In February 1987, a pathologist at the inquest stated two of the victims had been shot 28 times, mostly while on the ground, and that the third victim had been hit on the bridge of the nose. All three had single bullet wounds to the head.[10]

Damages from the Ministry of Defence

An undisclosed amount of compensation was awarded to the families of the three IRA volunteers by the Ministry of Defence on 7 May 2002, as part of a Belfast High Court settlement brought as a result of the shootings.[10]

Memorial attacked

In February 2005, in excess of a thousand people went to the graveside of Charles Breslin and the Devine brothers to mark the 20th anniversary of the shooting and hear an oration given by Gerry Adams. Members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland were accused of desecrating the graves of the volunteers, although Superintendent Raymond Murray of the PSNI denied that they had any involvement.[11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Speech by Gerry Adams at a commemoration for IRA Volunteers Michael Devine, David Devine and Charles Breslin, (20 February 2005)". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  2. ^ "CAIN Sutton Index of Deaths - 1985". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  3. ^ Friel, Laura (13 July 2000). "Enemies of the state". An Phoblacht. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Rayment, Sean (6 November 2005). "SAS prevented an outrage but now fears prosecution". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  5. ^ "AROUND THE WORLD; British Troops Kill 3 I.R.A. Guerrillas". The New York Times. 24 February 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b Tírghrá. National Commemoration Centre. 2002. p. 270. ISBN 0-9542946-0-2.
  7. ^ "23 February 1985 – Three Strabane IRA Volunteers cut down by hail of SAS bullets". An Phoblacht. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Saoirse rally in Strabane". An Phoblacht. 13 August 1998. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Strabane inquest - further revelations". An Phoblacht. 13 March 1997. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Families awarded money over SAS shootings". UTV News. 7 May 2002. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Irish minister accuses Adams of IRA role". politics.co.uk. 21 February 2005. Archived from the original on 15 March 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  12. ^ McKinney, Seamus (23 February 2005). "Police desecrated graves — Sinn Féin". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2024 – via nuzhound.com.
  13. ^ "Thousands attend Breslin/Devine 20th Anniversary Commemoration in Strabane". An Phoblacht. 31 March 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2024.