Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape

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An Aérospatiale Alouette II, the type of helicopter used in the escape

The Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape occurred on 31 October 1973 when three

Wolfe Tones wrote a song celebrating the escape called "The Helicopter Song", which topped the Irish popular music charts
.

Background

Following the outbreak of

Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey appeared at the Special Criminal Court charged with IRA membership, and stated "I refuse to recognise this British-orientated quisling court".[2] He was found guilty and received a five-year sentence.[2] By October 1973 the IRA's command structure was seriously curbed, with Twomey and other senior republicans J. B. O'Hagan and Kevin Mallon all being held in Mountjoy Prison.[1]

Plan

The IRA immediately began making plans to break Twomey, O'Hagan and Mallon out of the prison.

Long Kesh internment camp had been ruled out because of faster and more sophisticated British Army helicopters being stationed at a nearby base.[4] The IRA's GHQ staff approved the plan to break out Twomey, O'Hagan and Mallon, and arrangements were made to obtain a helicopter.[4] A man with an American accent calling himself Mr. Leonard approached the manager of Irish Helicopters at Dublin Airport, with a view to hiring a helicopter for an aerial photographic shoot in County Laois.[4] After being shown the company's fleet of helicopters, Leonard arranged to hire a five-seater Alouette II for 31 October.[4]

Escape

Leonard arrived at Irish Helicopters on 31 October and was introduced to the pilot of the helicopter, Captain Thompson Boyes.

Air Traffic Control.[7][8] As the helicopter approached Dublin, Boyes was informed of the escape plan and instructed to land in the exercise yard at Mountjoy Prison.[7]

In the prison's exercise yard, the prisoners were watching a football match.

racecourse in the Baldoyle area of Dublin, where the escapees were met by members of the IRA's Dublin Brigade.[8][10] Boyes was released unharmed, and the escapees were transferred to a taxi that had been hijacked earlier and transported to safe houses.[10]

Reaction

The escape made headlines around the world and was an embarrassment for Cosgrave's government, which was criticised for "incompetence in security matters" by opposition party Fianna Fáil.[6][11][12] An emergency debate on security was held in Dáil Éireann on 1 November, where leader of the opposition Jack Lynch stated:

It is poetic justice that a helicopter is now at the heart of the Government's embarrassment and in the centre of their dilemma. Indeed, it was hard to blame the prison officer who observed that he thought it was the Minister for Defence paying an informal visit to Mountjoy Prison yesterday because, of course, we all know the Minister for Defence is wont to use helicopters, as somebody observed already, as other Ministers are wont to use State cars.[13][14]

The IRA released a statement on the escape, which read, "Three republican prisoners were rescued by a special unit from Mountjoy Prison on Wednesday. The operation was a complete success and the men are now safe, despite a massive hunt by Free State forces".[15] Shortly after the escape Twomey gave an exclusive interview to German magazine

Wolfe Tones wrote a song celebrating the escape called "The Helicopter Song", which was immediately banned by the government yet still topped the Irish popular music charts after selling twelve thousand copies in a single week.[11]

Aftermath

The escape resulted in all IRA prisoners being held at Mountjoy Prison and Curragh Camp being transferred to the maximum security Portlaoise Prison.[11] In order to prevent any further escapes the perimeter of the prison was guarded by members of the Irish Army, and wires were erected over the prison yard to prevent any future helicopter escape.[11] Cosgrave stated there would be "no hiding place" for the escapees, and a manhunt involving twenty thousand members of the Irish Defence Forces and Garda Síochána ensued.[6][11] Mallon was recaptured at a Gaelic Athletic Association dance in a hotel near Portlaoise on 10 December 1973, and imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison.[17] He escaped from there in a mass break-out on 18 August 1974, when nineteen prisoners escaped after overpowering guards and using gelignite to blast through the gates.[18][19] He was recaptured in Foxrock in January 1975 and returned to Portlaoise Prison.[20] O'Hagan was recaptured in Dublin in early 1975, and also imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison.[17] After the end of his original twelve-month sentence, he was immediately arrested and sentenced to a further two years imprisonment for escaping.[17] Twomey evaded recapture until 2 December 1977, when he was spotted sitting in a car in Sandycove by members of the Garda's Special Branch who were investigating an arms shipment after a tip-off from police in Belgium.[17] He drove away after spotting the officers, before being recaptured in the centre of Dublin after a high-speed car chase.[17] He was also imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison until his release in 1982.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-86278-875-7
    .
  2. ^ a b Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, p. 114.
  3. ^ a b c d Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 120–121.
  4. ^ a b c d Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 122–123.
  5. ^ a b Break-in! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 124–125.
  6. ^ a b c Louisa Wright (12 November 1973). "The Canny Copter Caper". TIME. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d e Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 126–127.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-901005-05-9
    .
  9. ^ a b c d Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 128–129.
  10. ^ a b Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 130–131.
  11. ^ a b c d e Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, p. 132.
  12. ISBN 0-14-101041-X
    .
  13. ^ "Committee on Finance. – Mountjoy Jail Escape: Statement by Taoiseach". Oireachtas. 1 November 1973. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  14. ^ From Fetters to Freedom, pp. 61–62.
  15. ^ Art Mac Eoin (1 November 2001). "Chopper escape from Mountjoy". An Phoblacht. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  16. ^ Die Autobombe genügt nicht mehr Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Interview with Seamus Twomey) Der Spiegel 47/1973, 19 November 1973
  17. ^ a b c d e f Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 134–135.
  18. ^ "Portlaoise escape re-union". An Phoblacht. 19 August 2004. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  19. ^ Break-out! Famous Prison Escapes, pp. 136–137.
  20. ^ Eamonn McCann (23 October 2005). "Herrema's kidnapper explains motive". Sunday Journal. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2008.

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