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Wanted IRA man traced to quiet U.S. home in New Jersey

Irish building worker fled North after murder of Capt Robert Nairac

By
KENNETH HAYNES
,
Irish Central.com
Published Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 5:46 AM
Updated Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 6:00 AM
Read more: Robert Nairac, Patrick Maguire


Patrick Maguire in New Jersey and Captain Robert Nairac who was killed in 1977
Patrick Maguire in New Jersey and Captain Robert Nairac who was killed in 1977

A wanted man in the search for the killers of SAS undercover man Captain Robert Nairac has been traced to a suburban home in New Jersey after a 32-year search.

Patrick Maguire, is alleged to be one of a gang of nine IRA members and sympathisers who kidnapped Nairac, and then tortured and beat him senseless, before coldly shooting in the head.

Others in the murder gang say Maguire played a central part in the bloody fight on May 14, 1977, that ended in Captain Nairac's death. No trace of Nairac's body has ever been found.

Maguire fled to America on a visitor's visa and has since become a U.S. resident.

Even now, the story of what happened to the Oxford educated, SAS-trained Grenadier Guards officer, is still a mystery.

Nairac, 29, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his bravery, ventured into the heartland of the Provisional IRA when he posed as a member of the Official IRA at the Three Steps Inn at Drumintee, two miles from the Irish border.

He played his part well, chatting with locals and singing rebel songs but someone knew the truth.

As he walked to his car at closing time a gang of men who had been drinking at the bar, allegedly including Maguire, jumped him.

Nairac was beaten up then driven three miles to Ravensdale forest, across the border in County Louth. He was tortured for several hours as the gang tried to force him to reveal his identity.

When their efforts failed, the group laughed as an IRA gunman shot Nairac in the head.

Maguire, 57, is accused of being one of three men who fled from Northern Ireland in the days after the killing.

Maguire now lives with wife, Mary, 57, and their children, Anne Marie, 26, Christine, 24, Keira, 23 and Patrick junior, 22, in the quiet New Jersey suburb of Dumont.

Speaking to journalists at his home in Dumont, he said he had regrets about the events of that dark night in 1977.

"There's nothing I can say about that night... Of course I have regrets about it... but I'm not going to say any more.

"I'm not going to go back into the past. And if the past catches up with me, then... There's nothing can change things now and I've told you I regret it but that's as far as I can go... There's nothing can change it, it's 30-odd years ago.

"Things have changed in the north now. If they have progress in the north well and good, but they're not going to find the body here."

Maguire - who works as a tiler and building worker in Manhattan - says he would like to return to South Armagh.

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Wanted IRA man traced to quiet U.S. home in New Jersey | Irish News | IrishCentral


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Most recent comments - See all comments

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Posted by tsullivan1218 on Dec 28, 2009, 08:43 AM EST
I agree with Thomas Coolberth! I have read many accounts of the disappearance of Robert Nairac. He is deified in some and ridiculed as a naive "cowboy" type in others. As a SPY he was going into the lions den and knew the consequences. This was a WAR not a demonstration or insignificant Irish-British period. In WAR spys are reviled. Robert Nairac got his just deserve. If you want to piss and moan about injustice than lets look into the GIBRALTER MURDERS BY THE SAS.
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Posted by ThomasCoolberth on Dec 26, 2009, 06:12 PM EST
Under the rules of war spies have no Geneva rights. As an American fighting against invaders I would have done the same thing. Maybe I would have sympathy for a uniformed soldier .. but a spy? No way.
Report abuse
Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 23, 2009, 10:36 PM EST
and have i got it - NO
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 23, 2009, 10:36 PM EST
Once again I urge you to read the coments after mien, they shoudlo give you an idea as to what people who understand the North think, and what IRISH people think.
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 23, 2009, 10:30 PM EST
Also your comparisons with other international struggles ilustrate your lack of knowledge on the subject, comparing the hamas/Israel conflict of the Russian v Chechnya conflict, or the Taliban in Afghanistan, you clearly have no idea about the intricacies of the Northern conflict and its incompatibility with any other regional conflict you have spoken of
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 23, 2009, 10:28 PM EST
you fail to realise your opinions and ways are far more conducive to violence in the North than anythign I have said. For the record I would say the same for a loyalist act form the same time period, but not an act committed by any arm of the British security forces


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