Irish policeman who survived lethal IRA landmine trap reacts to Mary Lou McDonald statement that ‘no gardai should have been hurt’ in Troubles

Jim Cannon was reacting to the fact that Sinn Fein leader Ms McDonald had told an Irish radio station "nobody wearing the uniform of An Gardai Siochana should’ve been hurt or harmed" during the Troubles.

As well as calling for her to do whatever possible to assist in identifying the culprits who blew him up, Mr Cannon also said it is "completely wrong" to propose that police officers on the northern side of the border were legitimate targets, while those on the southern side were off-limits to attack.

Ms McDonald's remarks in an interview on Wexford's South East Radio on Friday.

She had been asked about the description of the IRA as “thugs and murderers” by Liam Griffin, a GAA figure and friend of murdered garda Seamus Quaid.

"I'm very conscious," Ms McDonald said, "that for many people what happened in the conflict still hurts, and hurts hard.

"And none more so than families of members of An Garda Siochana, or indeed any family who lost a loved-one in the course of the conflict.

"I've been clear, and we have been clear, that no members of the Gardai, nobody wearing the uniform of An Garda Siochana, should’ve been hurt or harmed in any way in the course of that conflict."

She added that "all I can do is extend my sympathy, my heartfelt sorrow, and on behalf of those who were hurt or harmed by republicans of any guise, in any set of circumstances, to offer a heartfelt apology and a genuine sense of solidarity and understanding of what that loss means".

– SF RHETORIC ‘INFLUENCED BY POLLS’ –

The book Lost Lives says the IRA killed six members of the Gardai during the Troubles.

Among them was Michael Clerkin, 24, who was killed by a landmine planted in a rural house in Portarlington in 1976, after being lured there in the dead of night with a false tip-off.

His body and much of the house were blown apart, and other policemen who were following him – including Mr Cannon – were severely injured.

No-one has been convicted over the bombing.

Buried alive: Garda remembers 'miracle' escape from fatal IRA bomb

Mr Cannon, now in his late 80s and suffering from lingering wounds from that attack, said Sinn Fein is now trying to present itself as more of a "centre" party, ready to govern, and less strident on IRA matters.

"I think she's saying a lot of good things now of late, because she's going down in the polls," he said of Ms McDonald.

"They lured us out that night to murder us, the IRA. I mean, it couldn't be any clearer. Where does that stand with what Mary Lou's saying?

"It remains unsolved. I'd certainly ask Mary Lou McDonald to try to find out who's involved in the murder of Michael Clerkin and the serious injuries to the four other members of the Garda Siochana."

As for the notion that police on either side of the border were valid targets, he said this is "completely wrong".

– ‘SINN FEIN DO NOT HAVE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHO IT WAS PROPER TO MURDER’ –

Meanwhile DUP MP Gavin Robinson said on Monday: “By singling out Garda officers, the Sinn Fein President not only casts a de facto judgement on the murder of police officers in Northern Ireland, but on everyone else targeted by the Provisional IRA.

"Michelle O’Neill has told us in the past that there is no hierarchy of victims, yet we see a very clear hierarchy within Sinn Fein’s own warped ideology.

"The blunt fact is that Sinn Fein do not and will never have the authority to sit in judgement and decide who it was ok for the IRA to murder and who it was not."

Mr Cannon and Mr Robinson’s remarks were put to Sinn Fein, but no response had been received at time of writing.

Some versions of the IRA's operating manual, the Green Book – such as the one quoted in Brendan O'Brien's book The Long War – contain a passage condemning An Garda Siochana for treason (a charge that normally carries a punishment of death from the IRA).

This passage states that "the RUC, the Gardai, the UDR and the Free State Army [are] illegal armies and illegal forces whose main tasks are treasonable".

However, a copy of the IRA General Army Orders from 1973 (the standing rules-of-engagement set by the Army Council, and quoted in the same above book) strikes a different tone.

General Army Order eight says that “volunteers are strictly forbidden to take any actions against 26 county forces under any circumstances whatsoever".