An IRA terrorist is deported from the US

syscom3 · 09-26-2006, 10:08 AM

I saw this in the newspaper this morning. This guy was an IRA terrorist in the 80's, who somehow managed to get to the US. Now hes been deported. Good riddance. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist!

Seal Beach bartender deported
Federal immigration officials remove Irishman from the U.S. for his role in the 1988 deaths of two British soldiers.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register

Federal immigration officials have removed a Seal Beach bartender from the United States, the culmination of a 2½-year legal battle to deport the Irish ex-convict for his role in the killings of two British soldiers, officials said Monday.

Sean O'Cealleagh, 37, was escorted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Dublin on Saturday. He had been detained at a San Pedro immigration center since Sept. 1.

"When we can remove someone who has proven he is dangerous from his criminal history, it's certainly a good result for the government and the American people," said Jim Hayes, who oversees ICE's detention and removal operations in Los Angeles.

O'Cealleagh, a popular bartender at O'Malley's, was one of three people convicted by a British court of being part of a mob that attacked and shot two soldiers in 1988 during an Irish Republican Army funeral procession in Belfast.

O'Cealleagh, who has maintained his innocence, moved to the United States after serving eight years in an Irish prison. He is married to an American and has a young son. They live in Westminster.

His attorney, Jim Byrne, declined to comment on further legal action, but said O'Cealleagh posed "no threat to the United States."

Article - News - Seal Beach bartender deported

Meteor · 09-26-2006, 04:41 PM

I just think it is a real shame that it has taken 9-1-1 to make some people realise that a terrorist is terorist is a terrorist.

Still, with a little luck he will serve his time here in a UK gaol.

Erich · 09-26-2006, 05:13 PM

actually working IN a Loo might be preferable !

mkloby · 09-27-2006, 05:05 PM

There have always been a lot of IRA in the US. The Provos always got a lot of support from the heavily Irish Catholic NE US. There was an Armalite smuggling operation that went on for a decade or so in the 70's and 80's i think it was out of Camp Lejeune, NC coordinated from NYC.

k9kiwi · 09-28-2006, 02:39 AM

The two guys that he helped nail were Scaleys (Signalers) for the Brit SAS contingent in Ireland.

They made a wrong turn heading back to base and drove slap bang into the funeral. It was caught by cameras as they were dragged out and gunned down in cold blood.

Hope you enjoy the Brit hospitality for a LONG TIME Sean. At least they will not take your kneecap out with an electric drill.

Glider · 09-28-2006, 09:28 PM

Hate saying it but its almost certain that he will be released as soon as he goes to court. Any terrorist activity carried out before the ceasefire is treated in this manner.
They go to court, admit guilt and get released.

They only go to jail if the crime was carried out after the ceasefire when its treated as a criminal act not a terrorist one.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · 09-29-2006, 04:32 AM

Good, hope he gets what he deserves!

FLYBOYJ · 09-29-2006, 09:31 AM

When I lived in NY I seen many Irish Americans ignorantly supporting these scumbags. If you go back and look at some old news files you'll notice the IRA made major concessions right after 911 when Bush and Blair said it was open season on ALL terrorists...

BTW I had a former relative (thru marriage, my ex's cousin) who was real pro-IRA and even went to Northern Ireland on vacation. When he came back to the states he did a 180 in his support of the IRA. Imagine that?

Glider · 09-29-2006, 04:43 PM

A cousin of mine was in Bomb Disposal at the height of the troubles before they developed the remote aids that they have today. He lost a lot of friends and had some near miss's.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · 10-01-2006, 01:38 PM

Bomb disposal is one hell of a job.

report2me4 · 10-03-2006, 07:42 AM

You really have to live in a country where terrorists are now forming the govenment. I really wish that we had gone to war against these people instead of allowing outside opinion dictate what action we could or could not take. I want to say more but my blood pressure is starting to rise so i will shut up and simmer in my bitterness.

mkloby · 10-03-2006, 10:08 AM

Hey report - I have a question for you, not meant at all to be obnoxious. I have read a little bit about the IRA, and quite a bit on your history over there (there's a lot of Irish blood in my fam). What do you say about unionist groups such as the Ulster Vol Force, Shankill Defense Association, and the Orange Order that waged terror against Catholic communities such as belfast and derry before the troubles, combined with the RUC that seemingly turned a blind eye? This was a major cause of the split of the provos, as Goulding became more involved with left wing politics, whereas the provos vowed to provide the defense of Catholics that the Northern gov't was unable or unwilling to provide.

I don't agree at all with the way the PIRA conducted bombings, killing hundreds and hundreds of innocents. There were also many protestant groups doing the same to Catholics - but don't seem to get the coverage that the provos do. Lastly - England did take over Ireland with hostile force...

Again - I don't mean this with any disrespect or as an attack. I'm interested in this thread, especially what you have to say being from the north - and you know much more than I do without a doubt, so please fire back.

Matt

report2me4 · 10-03-2006, 03:05 PM

MKLoby - I was hoping not neccesarily to have shown which side of the (still) divided community i was on but i suppose i should say that i might be considered as a unionist. However that doesnt mean that i would ignore the very serious cases of violence and bigotry on both sides before the troubles came to a head in the late 60s, but i was not trying to single out one group of our lovely terrorists over another when i said we should have gone to war.
I would argue that the causes of the troubles, which go back hundreds of years, are not understood by anyone least of all by those who would still be involved in terrorism here. At this point i must say that the IRA have abided by their ceasefire agreement despite a lot of provocation which i find highly admirable something i cant say for the other side which would profess to fight for my "cause"
There is the usual Irish v England & Protestant V Catholic issues but none of them explain where we have got to today.(thats my way of saying that i cant really argue against you!!)
I grew up during the 70s and 80s when the vast majority of deaths and terror were caused by republicans who are now being paid to run this country (not that anyone actually is but thats a different issue!) I just cant accept that by doing that we havent done anything other than giving in to terrorists. I know that if you are not prepared to fight terrorists then you may as well give in but its hard listening to america and its war on terror when thay encouraged it here.
The point you made however regarding England invading Ireland always p*sses me off though, if that is the case then are we going to hand back everywhere to the original natives, how far back in history do we go to decide where belongs to whoever, surely it has to come down to what the majority living in the country vote to do not by a minority sticking a gun in your face.

Sorry i have rambled - the issues over here tend to lend themselves to it. Happy to discuss!!

mkloby · 10-03-2006, 04:27 PM

Report - definitely understand where you are coming from when you say that about the "who took what from who and when" comment I made. I really just wanted a reaction/opinion from someone living there in the North - and it's really not too hard to pick up on which side someone lies on. Growing up outside NYC, so many Irish Catholics there - which makes for some great pubs, and oviously the sentiments around those parts tend to lie with the Republicans. But you're right - how far back do you take that argument... america and natives, the whole israeli-palestinian conflict - hell before it was islamic lands much of it was controlled by the byzantines, then the romans before them, and so on...

By your comment about former terrorists leading now - you mean guys like Gerry Adams, Brian Keenan, Martin McGuinness? I have not kept too up to date - been busy w/ flight school! I believe in the republican cause, I'll admit it. But the means to the end they chose was reprehensible. You can probably attest that the Provos public support continued to decrease as their attacks became more and more bold - killing many many innocents. Once they started down the road of accepting 12 innocent deaths for 1 targeted enemy - just say a shankill member - that seems to be where support really dried up - and where Adams really wanted to make things work through political means via Sinn Fein which finally led to Good Friday Agreement.

You describe self-determination. The peoples of Northern Ireland decide for themselves whether to remain in the Union or become one with Ireland. Of course there are other political things that complicate this seemingly simple idea, throughout the world, not just Ireland. Republicans wanted self determ to mean all of the island, but the UK strictly said only the North. Self determination became a buzz word after WWI, yet they created Yugoslavia - a state dominated by Serbian power yet including Croatia, slovenia, etc. Self determination took a back door to balancing out possible resurgent german might. The Kurds want self determination - yet Turkey vows to stomp them out, and if we divided up Iraq into say 3 parts (Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd) that would strike a cord with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other states that the US has cordial relations with. Plus it would set a precedent for the dismantling of every multinational state.

I guess i'm just saying that I agree with you - self determination is a great thing, but sometimes for political reasons it gets thrown by the wayside... and usually for the worse - not the better.

ndicki · 10-05-2006, 01:54 PM

Just an utterly frivolous comment - if we do start throwing settlers out (If Mugabe can do it in Zim, and no-one turns a hair, then why not?), let's throw the French out of France, and give it back to the Gauls - in other words, the Welsh, Irish and Scots!

Jean-Marie le Pen, the extreme right-wing nationalist leader, has a slogan - "France for the French" - I wanted to put a parody of it - "Gaul for the Gaels" (sounds better in French, but that's close enough) on my car bumper. My family spent a long time talking me out of it...