Gerry Kelly’s Maze escape tweet ‘shameful and gratuitous’, says Secretary of State

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has criticised Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly for “shameful and gratuitous incitement” following a tweet about the 1983 Maze Prison escape.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis arrives in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting, for the first time since the lockdown, to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis arrives in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting, for the first time since the lockdown, to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis arrives in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting, for the first time since the lockdown, to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.

The North Belfast MLA, who shot a prison officer in the head during the escape – he survived his injury – also drew criticism from the UUP leader Steve Aiken.

On the anniversary of the escape, September 25, Mr Kelly wrote: “37 years ago 38 Irish Republican prisoners were getting into a lorry at H7 and heading to the front gate of Long Kesh and freedom.

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“One of Big Bob’s best ops! I had the privilege of the front passenger seat. Well someone had to check we were taking the right route out!”

PressEye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 06th February 2020

Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting in the Board's offices, Clarendon Dock, Belfast.   
Pictured: Gerry Kelly, Board Member.

Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEyePressEye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 06th February 2020

Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting in the Board's offices, Clarendon Dock, Belfast.   
Pictured: Gerry Kelly, Board Member.

Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEye
PressEye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 06th February 2020 Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting in the Board's offices, Clarendon Dock, Belfast. Pictured: Gerry Kelly, Board Member. Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEye

Responding, Mr Lewis wrote: “This is disgraceful. Such shameful and gratuitous incitement makes it harder for all communities in Northern Ireland to move forward. It is right to expect so much more from elected representatives.”

Mr Aiken, in a statement, said: “Gerry Kelly’s vile tweet shows the perversion of right and wrong prevalent in Sinn Fein. It glorifies the actions of some of the IRA’s most notorious sectarian killers, antagonises their victims and undermines community relations.

“The fact that Gerry Kelly sits on the Policing Board as he spews out this hate-filled propaganda makes his actions all the more sickening. I am in no doubt that it was designed to provoke a reaction.

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“I also welcome the secretary of state’s strong words of condemnation.

“Rather than revelling in the Maze escape, Gerry Kelly should hang his head in shame at those that stabbed a prison officer and shot another in the head, led by notorious IRA criminal, Bobby Storey.

“While Gerry Kelly continues to poison the minds of some of our young people by glorifying IRA stabbings and shootings, it traps another generation in a cycle of hatred.

“Today’s republican terrorists are copying their tactics straight from the Provisional IRA’s playbook.

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“That cycle needs to be broken by acknowledging there was never any excuse for the horrific crimes committed by the Provisional IRA.”

During the 1983 pirson escape, two warders were shot and four others stabbed – including James Ferris who suffered a fatal heart attack – while a number of other prison officers were assaulted. Some 20 officers were injured during the breakout. Within days of the escape, 19 of the 38 escapees were recaptured.

l Morning View, page 16