Anthony McIntyre (born 27 June 1957) is a former

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 reu ...

volunteer, writer and historian. He was imprisoned for murder for 18 years in

Long Kesh Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

, spending four of those years on the no-wash protest. After his release from prison in 1992 he completed a PhD in political science at Queen's University Belfast and left the Republican Movement in 1998 to work as a journalist and researcher. A collection of his journalism was published as a book in 2008, ''Good Friday'': ''The Death of Irish Republicanism''.

Research and the Belfast Project

McIntyre was involved with the Boston College oral history project on

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

entitled the ''Belfast Project'', conducting interviews with former

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

members who (like himself) had become disillusioned with the direction the republican movement had taken, such as

Brendan Hughes Brendan Hughes (June 1948 – 16 February 2008), also known as "The Dark", and "Darkie" was a leading Irish republican and former Officer Commanding (OC) of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was the leader ...

and Dolours Price, and former

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a u ...

paramilitaries such as

David Ervine David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...

. The interviews were the basis for the book ''Voices From The Grave: Two Men's War in Ireland'' by

Ed Moloney Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular. He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...

. In 2011, McIntyre became embroiled in controversy when transcripts of the interviews, held by Boston College, were subpoenaed by the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

(PSNI) in relation to an investigation of the 1972 abduction and killing of

Jean McConville Jean McConville (''née'' Murray; 7 May 1934 – December 1972) was a woman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Ire ...

. In March 2014, the PSNI announced that it was seeking to question McIntyre over newly released ''Belfast Project'' recordings, specifically in reference to the alleged role of

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. ...

in the kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville.

Political views

McIntyre is a prominent critic of modern-day

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

and its leadership. McIntyre has spoken at Republican Sinn Féin party events. He is a co-founder of ''The Blanket'', a journal which casts a critical eye on the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...

References

External links

Official Blog: The Pensive Quill
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Anthony 1957 births Living people Paramilitaries from Belfast Provisional Irish Republican Army members People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland