Maria Gatland (born Maria McGuire 1948,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

for the

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, who has represented the South Croydon ward since 2018. From 2002 to 2018 she was a Conservative councillor for the Croham ward. She is also a former

Croydon Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 co ...

cabinet member for education, a post she resigned after controversy due to being a former member of the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

Early life

Gatland was born Maria McGuire, to a middle-class family, and lived in the suburb of

Churchtown, Dublin Churchtown () is a largely residential suburb on the southside of Dublin, between Rathfarnham and Dundrum. Landmarks Ely's Arch Braemor Road is still marked by a triumphal arch from the 18th century, which originally led to Rathfarnham Cast ...

. She was one of four siblings (two brothers and a sister). She was educated at St. Anne's School and then

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, where she studied English language and literature.

IRA involvement

McGuire became a member of the Provisional IRA in July 1971. Three months later, in October 1971, she accompanied

Dáithí Ó Conaill Dáithí Ó Conaill (English: ''David O'Connell'') (May 1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council of the Provisional IRA, and vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the firs ...

(a leader of the Republican movement, also known as David O'Connell) to the European continent on an arms buying expedition. The expedition came to nothing because it was reported in the British press, and Ó Conaill and McGuire abandoned the mission. She and Ó Conaill had an affair during this trip, although he was married. She, Ó Conaill, and Ó Conaill's wife had a difficult discussion about the issues involved shortly after they returned to Ireland.McGuire, Maria (1973) ''To Take Arms: A Year in the Provisional IRA'', Macmillan. Provisional IRA bomb attacks in Belfast, on 21 July 1972 (known as Bloody Friday) killed seven civilians and two soldiers, and left 130 injured. McGuire subsequently decided to leave the Provisional IRA. She was told by the British authorities that if she did so she would receive

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

protection. In the late summer of 1972 she appeared in London and wrote a series of articles for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', went into hiding, and wrote a book about her experiences in the organisation called ''To Take Arms: A Year in the Provisional IRA'' which was published in 1973. Myers, Kevin (5 December 2008)
Was it fair Gatland had to resign because of her past IRA links?
''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

''. Retrieved 6 July 2021. In it she was hostile to

Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán Mac Stíofáin (born John Edward Drayton Stephenson; 17 February 1928 – 18 May 2001) was an English-born chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, a position he held between 1969 and 1972. Childhood Although he used the Gaelicised ver ...

, IRA Chief of Staff at the time she was a member, but remained sympathetic to Ó Conaill, and wished him success in internal struggles against Mac Stíofáin in the Republican movement.

Political career

In 2002, Maria Gatland was elected as a member of the Conservative Party to Croydon Council as a councillor for Croham ward and in 2006 became Croydon's cabinet member for education. She says that she never hid her IRA past. When the Conservative Party found out about her past she stepped down as a council cabinet member in early December 2008. At the same time Gatland was suspended by the party, but was later accepted back to the Tory fold. She was subsequently re-elected as a councillor in the 2010 and 2014 local elections.

Personal life

Around 1986 McGuire moved to

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

where she met and married her late husband Mervyn Gatland, who ran a garden maintenance business. Gatland has said that at this time she was very fragile and had two breakdowns.

Early life

IRA involvement

Political career

Personal life

References

Further reading