Martin Galvin
Martin J. Galvin (born January 8, 1950) is an Irish American lawyer, publisher and activist, and former director of NORAID.[1]
Background
Galvin was born on January 8, 1950, the son of a fireman. He attended Catholic schools, Fordham University and Fordham University School of Law.[2] He previously worked as hearing officer for the New York City Department of Sanitation.[3]
Galvin and his wife, Carmel (born 1956), have a son, Martin, Jr.[4][5]
Political activism
Galvin was the publicity director for the New York-based NORAID, an Irish American group fund-raising organization which raised money for the families of Irish republican prisoners, but was also accused by the American, British, and Irish governments to be a front for the supply of weapons to the Provisional IRA.[6][7][8] Brian Jenkins, an expert on political violence at the RAND Corp, noted, "A group can move a dollar from its humanitarian budget to its weapons budget to some other budget and it's still a dollar. And if you reduce the burden an organization has to deal with in taking care of its people, you free money for weapons."[9]
Galvin became a publisher of The Irish People in the 1980s. He was banned from Northern Ireland because of a speech he gave that seemed to endorse terrorism. In August 1984 he defied the ban, and slipped across the border. Shortly thereafter a man was killed during a rally in West Belfast when the Royal Ulster Constabulary tried to arrest Galvin. The following year Galvin attended a mass funeral for an IRA member killed when a makeshift grenade launcher he was trying to fire at a local police station exploded in his face.[10] In 1989 Galvin was arrested and deported for violating the exclusion ban yet again.[11]
Galvin has slammed the peace process as a betrayal of republican ideals,[12] and has characterized IRA's decision to open up its arms dumps to international inspectors as a surrender.[13]
References
- ↑ "How the peace train pulled out without Martin Galvin". Belfast Telegraph. May 24, 2010.
- ↑ "America's Leading Ira Supporter, Martin Galvin, Says He "Understands" Why Terrorists Targeted Mrs. Thatcher". People. September 5, 1984.
- ↑ "Martin Galvin's Message". The New York Times. August 15, 1984.
- ↑ Reference to Martin Galvin, Jr., cdn.pagesuite.com; accessed June 10, 2014.
- ↑ Wedding of Martin Galvin, Jr. and Emer Larkin, riverdalepress.com; accessed June 10, 2014.
- ↑ Pike, John. "Northern Ireland: The Time And Place For Urban Terror".
- ↑ Pike, John. "IT0468 App A".
- ↑ "Rep. King and the IRA: The End of an Extraordinary Affair? - The New York Sun".
- ↑ "Ties to Terrorism: Extremists Tap Into U.S. Money Tree". Los Angeles Times. March 3, 1988.
- ↑ "American Defies Ban and Attends IRA Services". Los Angeles Times. August 10, 1985.
- ↑ "Pro-IRA American Seized in Ulster; Had Been Barred". Associated Press. August 16, 1989.
- ↑ "'Traitors' — Martin Galvin's Rap for "Sell Out" by Sinn Féin". Sunday World. June 19, 2011.
- ↑ "Republican rebels gain strength". The Observer. June 24, 2000.