The Boston Globe

October 30, 1989, Monday, City Edition

Noraid splits as old guard shuns politics

BYLINE: By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff

SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. 21 p

LENGTH: 1065 words

The Irish Northern Aid Committee, an American support group for the Irish Republican Army, has been wracked by aseries of personal squabbles and the defections of longtime leaders, including some from the Boston area.

Those who comprise the new leadership of the group, commonly known as Noraid, say the defections involve only ahandful of older dissidents who are reluctant to "go political" in appealing for support beyond traditionally sympatheticcircles.

While much of the dispute appears rooted in personality clashes, there seems to be genuine philosophical differences inapproaches to galvanizing American support for the IRA.

Kieran Staunton, a Dorchester bar owner who has emerged as the leading Noraid organizer in New England, said abreakaway organization of former Noraid leaders "has no status in the eyes of the Irish republican movement."

The dissidents, however, many of whom gathered Saturday for a banquet at the Irish-American club in Malden, andheld meetings yesterday in Malden, say the "young turks" who have taken over Noraid are minimizing the significanceof the defections.

"There is turmoil all across the country," said John Hurley, the former president of Noraid's Boston chapter, who hasformed the breakaway group known as the Friends of Irish Freedom. "Most of the people involved in Noraid over theyears have stepped down because of what's going on."

Hurley says the defections have left only two members on Noraid's 15-member executive board "with anything morethan two or three years of experience" in the group.

He said that he met with former Noraid officials from New Jersey, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, andWashington, D.C., yesterday and that the group has decided to set up a national office in New York and take the nameof Friends of Irish Freedom.

"We're staying under the same principles - to support the political prisoners and their families," he said. "No politics.We're staying away from politics. The only difference will be the name."

Staunton accused the dissidents of advertising Saturday's banquet as a Noraid function, then changing its affiliation tothe new group headed by Hurley.

"If they choose to leave Irish Northern Aid, they are effectively breaking their links with the only official Irishrepublican solidarity movement in the United States," he said.

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The increasingly public and bitter schism has developed as Noraid was preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary withmajor fund-raising dinners in several American cities, including Boston, and as the group was attempting to broaden itsappeal, which has been relatively limited.

According to its critics, Noraid has traditionally "preached to the converted" and has failed to tap what IRA supportersin Ireland believe is a natural constituency among Americans who support revolutionary groups in Central America andSouth Africa. Noraid's critics also contend the "old guard" leadership was not doing enough to recruit the new wave ofIrish immigrants, some of whom are bitter about having to leave home to find work and are supportive of more radicalIrish politics.

While Noraid's younger members argue that the organization needs to merge into the political mainstream, moreconservative members assert that politicizing the organization will dilute its ability to raise money.

"We're trying to stick to the principles that Irish Northern Aid started under - taking care of political prisoners," Hurleysaid. "The new executive is deviating from those principles."

Just where Noraid's money goes is an area of longstanding dispute. The American, British and Irish governments, whichconsider the IRA a terrorist organization, contend the money goes directly to the IRA and is used to perpetuate violence.Noraid, which is required by the US Justice Department to register as a foreign agent for the IRA, says the money isused to assist the families of IRA members who are imprisoned.

The approximately $ 300,000 Noraid sends abroad annually is only a fraction of the estimated $ 5 million to $ 7 millionthe IRA needs every year to pay for its violent campaign aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland. Noraid's rolein the propaganda war seems where the old and new guards clash.

In Belfast, the leadership of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, is disturbed by the ongoing squabble here, but hasalready chosen sides.

In an interview with The Boston Globe two weeks ago, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said, "We support the Noraidexecutive." Adams said he personally regretted the defections of former Noraid president Pat O'Connell of New Yorkand Jim Maunell, a Medford man who recently resigned as national chairman of the Noraid executive, the firstBoston-area person to hold the position.

Adams said that last December, Sinn Fein and Noraid leaders "collectively took decisions" to get Noraid more involvedin political activity. Adams said Maunsell and O'Connell "were enthusiastic about the changes."

Apparently both men, neither of whom could be reached for comment, have since changed their minds.

Adams urged the defectors to rejoin Noraid, and suggested that "if there are disagreements, they should be resolvingthem internally, not putting advertisements in newspapers."

He was referring to an advertisement placed in the Irish Voice and Irish Echo newspapers by 40 Noraid dissidentsearlier this month that criticized the new Noraid executive board. The advertisement, which followed O'Connell'sdecision to move Noraid's office in New York City, marked what so far is the apex of the increasingly divisive dispute.

Hurley says Sinn Fein leaders like Adams "haven't got the whole story," and accuses younger Noraid leaders likeStaunton and national publicity director Martin Galvin of savaging the reputations of older Noraid leaders "behind ourbacks."

Last week, Staunton returned from Ireland, where he held informal meetings with Adams and Joe Cahill, anotherleading republican. He said Adams and Cahill "stressed the importance of unity in the United States, expressed fullconfidence in Noraid and disappointment with the current" level of discord.

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Staunton says the squabble will fizzle soon.

Hurley, however, says the defectors will continue to raise money and form alternative groups. As for his formercolleagues in Noraid, he says, "We wish them the best of luck."

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1989 Globe Newspaper Company

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