Edward Noel Kelly (born 9 January 1951), known as Nicky Kelly, is an Irish politician from

Arklow Arklow (; ; , ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 re ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

. He was born in

Graiguenamanagh Graiguenamanagh or Graignamanagh () is a town on the River Barrow in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Part of the settlement, known as Tinnahinch, is on the County Carlow side of the river, and Carlow County Council refers to the whole village as "Grai ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

. A member of

Official Sinn Féin The Workers' Party ( ga, Páirtí na nOibrithe) is a Marxist–Leninist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It arose as the original Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, but took ...

, later on he left it to join the new

Irish Republican Socialist Party The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP ( ga, Páirtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na hÉireann) is a Marxist-Leninist and republican party in Ireland. It is often referred to as the "political wing" of the Irish National Liberation Army (I ...

(IRSP) in 1974.

Imprisonment and release

In 1978, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his alleged part in the Sallins Train Robbery. The ensuing campaign to release him became a symbol of the 1980s with 'Free Nicky Kelly' graffiti posted throughout the country. The evidence of torture committed against him and his two co-accused, Osgur Breatnach and Brian McNally, galvanised a campaign for his release. There was a dedication to him in the 1983

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars ...

album, '' Words & Music''. Pat McCartan, who later became a TD for the Workers' Party, acted as his solicitor at this time, despite being on the opposing side in the Official Sinn Féin–IRSP split. In 1984, Kelly was released on humanitarian grounds. He received a presidential pardon in 1992, along with over

IR£ The pound (Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin ...

1 million as compensation following campaigns by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and the

Irish Council for Civil Liberties The Irish Council for Civil Liberties ( ga, An Chomhairle um Chearta Daonna) is an Irish non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the civil liberties and human rights of people in Ireland. History Founded in 1976 by future President Mary ...

. The events of Kelly's arrest and trial(s) were the subject of an edition of the

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

documentary series ''Scannal'', broadcast on 22 September 2014.

Political career

Kelly was elected to

Town Council in 1991 and to

Wicklow County Council Wicklow County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Mhantáin) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed ...

in 1999. In 2001 he joined the Labour Party. In 2008, he was elected mayor of Arklow. He stood unsuccessfully as a Labour party candidate for the

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

constituency at the 2002 general election where he was beaten to the final seat by

Mildred Fox Mildred Fox (born 17 June 1971) is a former Irish Independent politician. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 1995 to 2007. Private life She was educated at St. Kilian's Community School in Bray and is a graduate of U ...

by 19 votes, and in the 2007 general election, where his first-preference vote declined from 12% in 2002 to 6%. In early 2011, he left the Labour Party after a dispute about candidate selection at the party's convention.WicklowNews.net Election 2011: Nicky Kelly enters Dail race
, Stephen Dunne, 8 February 2011. Despite rumours that he intended to join

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 Gri ...

or the

United Left Alliance The United Left Alliance ( ga, Comhaontas Aontaithe an Chlé, ULA) was an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland, formed to contest the 2011 general election. The grouping origin ...

he stood at the 2011 general election as an independent candidate in the Wicklow constituency. He was not elected, receiving only 0.7% of the first-preference vote. He lost his seat at the 2014 local elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Nicky 1951 births Living people Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Overturned convictions People from Arklow Local councillors in County Wicklow Recipients of Irish presidential pardons