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Tag Archives: Hare Coursing


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Birth of Dessie Ellis, Sinn Féin Politician

Desmond Ellis, Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency since the 2011 Irish general election, is born in Finglas, Dublin, on September 23, 1953.

Ellis is from an Irish republican family, and both of his grandfathers fought in the Easter Rising in 1916. He later owns a television repair business.

Ellis is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner. He is arrested in 1981, when explosives and bomb making equipment are found under his bed. He is charged with possession of explosives. He jumps bail, but is arrested in Buffalo, New York in February 1982 and extradited to the Republic of Ireland, where in April 1983, he is sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment in Portlaoise Prison. He is convicted of possessing multiple power-timer units for IRA bombs, including those suspected of being used in the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings. In 1983, his fingerprints are found on a huge cache of IRA explosives found in a forest outside the Berkshire town of Pangbourne. The cache is linked to the Harrods and Hyde Park bombings. On November 14, 1990, after thirty-five days on hunger strike, he becomes the first person extradited from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom under the 1987 Extradition Act. He goes on hunger strike to protest efforts to send him to Britain, but is extradited in the sixth week of his fast. His hunger strike draws considerable domestic and international attention, and at one point Taoiseach Charles Haughey intervenes, asking Ellis’ parents to ask him to give it up, but they refuse. He is acquitted at his trial in London in October 1991.

Ellis is first elected to Dublin City Council in 1999, for the Finglas local electoral area. He unsuccessfully contests the 2002 Irish general election in the Dublin North-West constituency, and receives 4,781 first-preference votes (18.3%). He is again unsuccessful at the 2007 Irish general election in the same constituency, receiving 4,873 votes (15.7%). At the 2011 Irish general election, he is elected to the 31st Dáil with 7,115 (21.7%) of the first-preference votes.

In October 2014, following claims made by Máiría Cahill that she had been raped as a 17-year-old by a member of the Provisional IRA, Ellis states that “If an allegation was made against a volunteer it would have to be investigated [internally]…To be honest they were not qualified to deal with something like sexual abuse”. Based on this, Philip Ryan of the Irish Independent accuses Ellis of admitting that the IRA ran “kangaroo courts.”

In 2015, Ellis refuses to comment on if Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams should distance himself from Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy, an Irish republican found guilty of tax fraud and an allegedly a former IRA Chief of Staff.

At the 2016 Irish general election Ellis is again elected with 7,571 (20.5%) of the first-preference votes.

In September 2016, a bill is put forward, which if passed would criminalise hare coursing. Sinn Féin supports the legalisation of hare coursing and decides to apply the party whip. As Ellis opposes it he declines to vote. He defies party instructions by not informing party whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh that he will not be taking part in the vote so he could be excused. He is subsequently given a written warning.

In December 2016, during a session of the Dáil, Ellis and his fellow Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris are accused by Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell of having information in relation to the shooting of Brian Stack, the chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, in 1983. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams had just delivered an address to the Dáil in relation to Stack when Farrell rises and uses Dáil privilege to state Gerry Adams had listed Ellis and Ferris as amongst people who may have information about the Stack death in an e-mail to the Garda Commission in February 2014, and ask that the two should also address the Dáil on the matter. Ellis immediately responds by stating, “I refute [sic] any allegations. For the information, the man in question claims to be a solicitor, I was actually in jail for the period. In Portlaoise, and before that in America, so you should check your facts. You’re a disgrace.” Ferris follows Ellis, and states, “On the record of this house; In 2013, I met with gardaí at their request regarding the death of Brian Stack, I co-operated fully with them and I have nothing to answer for, and it’s a disgrace what you have come in here naming. You should be ashamed of yourself.” In December 2016, Ellis states he had received death threats following the exchange in the Dáil.

In February 2018, Ellis is censured by Sinn Féin after he states publicly that fellow party member and councillor for Ballymun Noeleen Reilly is “not fit to represent Sinn Féin” and that she had waged a social media campaign against him. For her part, Reilly is suspended by the party for six months.

At the 2020 Irish general election Ellis is again elected with 14,375 first-preference votes (44.4%). He is a poll topper in the 2020 general election along with many Sinn Féin TDs in the 2020 election. He is criticised for joining his supporters singing “Come Out, Ye Black and Tans” at the count, but he dismisses the suggestion it is inappropriate.

At the 2024 Irish general election, Ellis is re-elected to the Dáil.

Ellis is in favour of the abolition of the local property tax. He supports the repealing of the Eighth Amendment, which forbids abortion in the Republic of Ireland. He believes refugees should have the right to work in Ireland and believes the system of direct provision should come to an end.

In 2012, the Irish Independent, citing released internal documents held by the British government that were previously sealed for 30 years, alleges that by 1982 British authorities believe Ellis to be linked to “50 murders” as part of his time in the Provisional IRA. The allegation specifically cites a telegraph from the British embassy in Washington, D.C., to American counterparts in which they claim that Ellis is linked by “forensic evidence to some 50 murders” across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Independent claims another document states that Ellis is a “leading member” of the Provisional IRA.

Sinn Féin denounces the allegations as an “Indo Smear” and releases a statement declaring, “This is not the first time such unsubstantiated allegations have been made and Dessie Ellis rejects them as he has repeatedly done. Following a prolonged hunger strike in the 1990s to protest his extradition to Britain, Dessie successfully beat these trumped-up charges in court. Dessie Ellis has made no secret of his involvement in the republican struggle over many decades, including within the ranks of the IRA. Dessie has also been an important persuader for the Peace Process for many years.” Ellis does not make any personal statement on the allegations and refers journalists to Sinn Féin’s official statement.

Ellis is proficient in karate, holding a black belt, and teaches martial arts to young people. He is married to Anne Ellis (née Dunne) with grown up children.


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Death of Brendan McGahon, Fine Gael Politician

Brendan McGahon, Irish Fine Gael politician who serves as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 1982 to 2002, dies on February 8, 2017, following a brief illness. Often described as “colourful,” with a reputation as a social conservative, he is first elected to Dáil Éireann at the November 1982 Irish general election and retains his seat until retiring at the 2002 Irish general election.

McGahon is born in Dundalk, County Louth, on November 22, 1936, and is educated at St. Mary’s College, Dundalk. His grandfather, T.F. McGahon, is one of the inaugural members of Dundalk Urban District Council when it is created along with other Irish local authorities by the British Government in 1898. T.F. McGahon is a leading member of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP). He starts a local newspaper, the Dundalk Democrat, which is supportive of the IPP. He is a critic of the Irish War of Independence campaign, of Sinn Féin, and of the then Irish Republican Army (IRA), arguing that the campaign will result in the partition of Ireland. He is later succeeded on the council by his son, O.B. McGahon, who in turn is followed by his nephew, Hugh McGahon. The family subsequently supports the National League Party and the Independent TD James Coburn and joins Fine Gael when Coburn joins the party. They are also prominent members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

McGahon marries Celine Lundy, a widow from Newry, County Down, and takes over the running of the family newspaper business in the 1960s. He plays soccer for Dundalk F.C. in the League of Ireland Premier Division for a number of years.

McGahon succeeds his cousin Hugh on Dundalk Town Council and on Louth County Council at the 1979 Irish local elections. He is an unsuccessful candidate at the 1981 Irish general election and at the February 1982 Irish general election. He is first elected to Dáil Éireann for Louth at the November 1982 Irish general election, defeating incumbent Fine Gael TD, Bernard Markey. He is re-elected at the next five general elections.

A notable aspect of McGahon’s political career is his stand against the Provisional IRA when that organisation’s campaign of violence is at its height. At great personal risk, he refuses to close his newsagents shop in Dundalk during the funerals of the hunger strikers in 1981. He takes another huge risk a few years later when he gives evidence in the High Court in support of The Sunday Times, which is being sued for libel by Thomas Murphy for accusing him of directing an IRA bombing campaign in Britain. Local Gardaí are ordered not to get involved in the case, but McGahon is not deterred from giving evidence that helps the newspaper to defend the claims being made against it by Murphy.

A maverick and outspoken TD, McGahon is known to speak his mind on many issues including divorce, crime, and single mothers. He once advocates that pedophiles should be castrated as part of their prison sentence and is the only TD to oppose the referendum to abolish the death penalty from the Constitution. He also argues that those under 21 years of age should not be able to drive or drink. He is a member of the World Anti-Communist League and opposes the decriminalisation of homosexuality. In 1993, he is the only TD to oppose the decriminalisation of homosexuality and says in the Dáil that:

“I regard homosexuals as being in a sad category, but I believe homosexuality to be an abnormality, some type of psycho-sexual problem that has defied explanation over the years. I do not believe that the Irish people desire this normalisation of what is clearly an abnormality. Homosexuality is a departure from normality and while homosexuals deserve our compassion, they do not deserve our tolerance. That is how the man in the street thinks. I know of no homosexual who has been discriminated against. Such people have a persecution complex because they know they are different from the masses or normal society. They endure inner torment, and it is not a question of the way others view them. The lord provided us with sexual organs for a specific purpose. Homosexuals are like left-hand drivers driving on the right-hand side of the road.”

On the other hand, McGahon speaks out strongly against the influence of the drink industry and defies his own party whip to vote with his left-wing friend Tony Gregory in favour of banning of hare coursing. He is also on good personal terms with members of the Oireachtas such as Michael D. Higgins and David Norris despite holding fundamentally opposed views to them.

McGahon does not contest the 2002 Irish general election and retires from politics.

McGahon lives in Ravensdale, County Louth. His son Conor is a Louth County Councillor from 1991 to 1999 and his brother Johnny is a Louth County Councillor from 1995 to 2004. Johnny’s nephew, John McGahon, is elected to Louth County Council at the 2014 Irish local elections and to Seanad Éireann in 2020.

McGahon dies at the age of 80 on February 8, 2017, following a short illness. Following a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on February 11, he is buried afterwards in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.


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Death of John Cowley, Actor & Animal Welfare Activist

John Ultan Cowley, actor and animal welfare activist, dies on February 13, 1998, in Navan, County Meath. He is best known for his role as pater familias, Tom Riordan, in the long-running RTÉ Television drama series, The Riordans.

Cowley is born September 8, 1923, in Ardbraccan, Navan, County Meath, the third child of Patrick Cowley, a small farmer, and his wife Margaret. Educated at the local national school, he leaves at the age of thirteen to work on the family farm. He also works with a horse and cart drawing stones from a local quarry. He is an enthusiastic amateur actor and learns his trade in the fit ups of the forties and fifties. Moving to England, he gets parts in television shows such as Z-Cars and No Hiding Place. During the 1950s and 60s, he is also very active in theatre, and has a long association with the Globe theatre company in Dún Laoghaire, which he joins in 1956. He also plays in the Abbey, Gate and Olympia theatres, travels Europe in 1960–61 with John Millington Synge‘s The Playboy of the Western World, and stars in the early Hugh Leonard play I Loved You Last Summer.

Cowley is best known for his portrayal of the bluff countryman Tom Riordan in RTÉ’s rural drama, The Riordans. First airing on January 4, 1965, it runs until May 28, 1979. One of RTÉ’s most successful programmes, it has a huge audience and a considerable social impact through its treatment of controversial topics such as divorce, contraception, and mixed marriages. When it ends in 1979 Cowley is bitterly disappointed and accuses RTÉ of throwing him on the scrap heap. After this he continues to work in theatre and has occasional appearances on screen, including a part in Jim Sheridan‘s The Field (1991) and the British espionage television series, The Avengers.

Cowley also writes poetry and a play, A Fool and His Money. His other hobbies include a passion for history (particularly the 1798 period), hurling, Gaelic football, boxing, and swimming. A patron and a founder member of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports in 1967, he is a leading opponent of hare coursing, popularising the cause through an appearance on The Late Late Show in 1967.

In 1953 Cowley marries Annie D’Alton, an actor who later appears with him in The Riordans, two years after the death of her first husband, the dramatist Louis D’Alton. They have one son.

Cowley dies in Navan on February 13, 1998. His wife precedes him in death in March 1983.