USA: FORMER IRA MEMBER SEAN O'CALLAGHAN SPEAKS OUT ABOUT IRA

(23 Feb 1997) English/Nat

A former I-R-A guerrilla-turned-informer says U-S pressure is needed to help persuade Irish nationalists to renounce terrorism forever.

Sean O'Callaghan made the comments in Washington during his first visit to the U-S.

He also warned that with the onset of spring Northern Ireland could face what he called "really serious bloodshed" because the I-R-A had abandoned the cease-fire.

O'Callaghan was released in early December after serving eight years of multiple life sentences in British prisons for two homicides and other terrorist attacks.

But Irish Republican representatives in the U-S question O'Callaghan's motives.

He is known as one of the biggest betrayers of the Irish Republican Army (I-R-A).

Sean O'Callaghan became famous when he revealed an I-R-A plot to blow up the Prince and Princess of Wales at a rock concert in London.

In December, O'Callaghan was freed from prison by command of the Queen.

He served only eight years of a 539-year sentence for two murders and numerous other offences.

Now, he's probably high on the I-R-A hit list.

But O'Callaghan says a price on his head won't stop him from spreading his message and warning the public about the dangers of the I-R-A.

SOUNDBITE:
"They are a very, very tough hard leadership who will do whatever is necessary to advance their cause. If that means being nice to people, talking to people, they will do that. If it means murdering people, they will do that, as well."
SUPER CAPTION: Sean O'Callaghan, Former I-R-A guerrilla

O'Callaghan spent almost twenty years in the I-R-A, 10 of them as an informer.

During that time, he says he learned that the I-R-A and the Sinn Fein party -- seen as the I-R-A's political wing -- are deeply entwined.

O'Callaghan claims that Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and other Republican (nationalist) politicians do control I-R-A actions, although this is something they've constantly denied.

SOUNDBITE:
"Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, and those people are the chief strategists in the Republican movement. While the don't take a day to day part in I-R-A activities, they are the people who decide if the I-R-A campaign is to be intensified, if it's to be left off, if there is to be a cease-fire, if the cease-fire is to end."
SUPER CAPTION: Sean O'Callaghan, Former I-R-A guerrilla

O'Callaghan's in the U-S for a three-week tour to spread his message to politicians, senior officials and the media.

While in Washington, he plans to ask the Clinton administration to close the Washington Sinn Fein office, and ban its fund-raising in the U-S.

He says that allowing Sinn Fein a role in the peace process is like condoning terrorism and he had this message for President Clinton.

SOUNDBITE:
"Until they renounce violence completely, the door should be closed, and they should be pushed into the corner where they have to make the hard decisions. You cannot, as I say, these are very tough, hard political operators, you just can't soft-soap them, you cannot treat them softly, because they will walk all over you. They will see it as a weakness, and they will walk all over you."
SUPER CAPTION: Sean O'Callaghan, Former I-R-A guerrilla

But Sinn Fein representatives in the U-S warn the public not to be fooled by O'Callaghan, saying he's unstable and has no credibility.

Sinn Fein maintains he was released from prison to help promote British propaganda and divide the nationalist movement.

SOUNDBITE:
SUPER CAPTION: Mairead Keane, Sinn Fein Representative to the U-S



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