Martina Anderson Episode 4 26th Jan TG4 10:30 PM
Born into a large republican family on Lecky Road in the Free Derry Corner area of the Bogside. Her earliest memories of the troubles are bringing buckets of water and vinegar out during riots, for those who’s eyes were hurt by gas. She witnessed many atrocities in Derry in her youth. By the time she was sixteen her family was known to the authorities and the army were raiding the house frequently. It was around this time she made the decision to become involved with the armed struggle.
She had been a member of Cumann na mBan, but wanted to get more involved so she joined the IRA. At 18 she was arrested and charged with possession and causing explosions. Martina’s trial came to Crumlin Rd Court. With the amount of people at the courthouse that day, she managed to slip out through the door and flee. She then went on the run, staying mostly in Buncrana.
She was again arrested in 1985 in Glasgow, along with four other IRA members including Ella O’Dwyer, they were held for 13 months in the all-male Brixton prison. They were sentenced to life at the Old Bailey. They were then sent to Durham prison, where conditions were appalling. They campaigned to be moved back to Ireland and in 1996 they succeeded and were transferred to Maghaberry Prison. Martina was released in December 1998.
She met Paul Kavanagh before they went to prison, and their relationship had started by the time she was arrested, he had been arrested about a year before her. They decided to get married while they were in prison. They married in Colsutton prison. Martina did her O and A levels while at Durham, and a degree in Social Science from the Open University, she completed it in Magheberry, and she received 1st Class Honours.
After her release she chose to enter politics and moved her way up the Sinn Féin ranks. In 2005 she accepted the role of Director of Unionist Engagement and in 2007 she was asked to be one of three Sinn Féin members on the policing board. She saw it as a human rights role; that all communities wanted a fair policing force. She ran for the assembly in 2007, taking a seat in the Foyle constituency. She held her seat in 2011, topping the poll. She lives in Derry and currently holds the position of Junior Deputy First Minister in Stormont.
Martina Anderson features on Mná an IRA TG4
Martina Anderson Episode 4 26th Jan TG4 10:30 PM
She had been a member of Cumann na mBan, but wanted to get more involved so she joined the IRA. At 18 she was arrested and charged with possession and causing explosions. Martina’s trial came to Crumlin Rd Court. With the amount of people at the courthouse that day, she managed to slip out through the door and flee. She then went on the run, staying mostly in Buncrana.
She met Paul Kavanagh before they went to prison, and their relationship had started by the time she was arrested, he had been arrested about a year before her. They decided to get married while they were in prison. They married in Colsutton prison. Martina did her O and A levels while at Durham, and a degree in Social Science from the Open University, she completed it in Magheberry, and she received 1st Class Honours.