Northern politician Jeffrey Donaldson wants Pol Brennan jailed

Jeffrey Donaldson determined to lock up former IRA prisoner

Donaldson cited Brennan’s terrorist conviction in the seventies and his arrest for possessing a firearm in the U.S. in 1993 for his reasoning behind wanting Brennan jailed upon returning to Ireland.

“This would suggest that he may represent a public risk were he to return to Northern Ireland or even the Republic of Ireland,” said Donaldson.

“I am now publicly calling on the secretary of state to set procedures in place for Brennan to be returned to jail. He has a remaining sentence to be served for terrorist crimes, and he committed another criminal offense whilst escaping from the Maze.”

Brennan, who hails from Belfast, has been detained in Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas since he was arrested in January 2008.

Brennan was traveling with his wife Joanna Volz on the way to visit a mutual friend in Texas when he was detained at an immigration checkpoint because his work permit had expired. Brennan, who has a 2005 misdemeanor assault conviction, had applied to have it renewed and was awaiting word from authorities. 

In 1976, Brennan, armed with a handgun, was arrested while moving explosives through Belfast. A year later he was sentenced to 16 years in jail.

In 1983, Brennan was one of the 38 IRA prisoners who escaped the Maze Prison. Months after the escape, Brennan moved to the U.S. to start a new a life.

In 1993, Brennan was arrested in Berkeley, California after applying for a U.S. passport using a false name. Brennan was released on bail.

 During the 90’s England requested his extradition but in the upshot of the Good Friday agreement, Britain dropped its extraction case against him in 2000.

Brennan moved on with his life and worked as a carpenter in San Francisco from 2000 to 2006.

Brennan has received support from the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) as well as Congressmen Peter King and Jim Walsh from New York and Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal, chairman of he the Friends of Ireland in Congress.

Last November, Brennan told a court in Texas that he feared his life would be in danger if he were deported back to Ireland. He said he hoped for political asylum.

It was revealed in court in Texas that Brennan arrived in the U.S. in 1984 under a false name and later purchased a pistol using same alias.

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Nster.com