Sinn Féin mourns death of legendary party figure

Ted Howell, a lifelong republican activist who became one of Sinn Fein’s most senior and trusted officials, is being deeply mourned by his comrades, friends and family.

An IRA veteran, he is remembered as a naturally private man who was an important figure in peace process negotiations and Sinn Fein’s transition into mainstream politics.

He passed away peacefully at his home last week. Party leader Mary Lou McDonald, Stormont first minister Michelle O’Neill and former party president Gerry Adams were among mourners at a service at his home on Tuesday.

The service, attended by scores of Sinn Fein representatives and officials, heard that the veteran republican was known as the “quiet man”, and that his family and friends had been left with cherished memories of the 78 year-old.

Several of the party’s MPs, TDs and MLAs also attended, including John Finucane, Carál Ní Chuilín, Pat Sheehan, Louise O’Reilly and Gerry Kelly, as well as other party members such as Alex Maskey, Martina Anderson, Sean Murray, Martin Ferris.

Following the service, Mr Howell’s coffin, which was adorned by a tricolour, was carried from his home with former party officers Tom Hartley and Bairbre de Brún among those to walk alongside the hearse as it left the house.

Several figures from Sinn Féin helped carry the coffin as the cortege made its way to Milltown cemetery.

A close friend of Mr Adams, the former west Belfast MP last week described his former comrade and late wife Eileen Duffy as “central figures in the Irish struggle”.

First Minister Ms O’Neill also described Mr Howell as a “towering intellect”, while Mary Lou McDonald said he was a “patriot” whose contribution would endure for generations to come.

A former Officer Commanding of the IRA Belfast Brigade’s second battalion in the west of the city, Mr Howell went on to serve as Sinn Féin’s director of foreign affairs in North America and Europe.

He played a central role in drafting two landmark Sinn Féin policy documents – ‘Scenario for Peace’ in 1987 and the ‘Towards a Lasting Peace in Ireland’ in 1992 – and was later involved in negotiations with the Irish, British and US governments as part of the party’s team.

Speaking at Milltown, Ms McDonald said tributes had been paid to Mr Howell from across the world.

“Ted Howell was a patriot, a family man, a proud Belfast man, a united Irelander, an internationalist and it is no surprise that we have travelled from the four corners of Ireland but also from Canada, from the US, from Britain, from the Basque Country and that messages have poured in to Ted’s family and friends from all four corners of the globe to recognise this extraordinary man,” she said.

“Ted Howell was a significant figure in the Irish struggle for freedom from his earliest days and he remained a true and faithful servant of our struggle until his very very last.”

Former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams gave the oration. He recalled sharing a bunk bed with him while they were both interned at Long Kesh prison camp in the 1970s.

“All of us will have stories of Ted – his family members, his lifelong friends, his neighbours, his comrades, his local butcher, his drinking companions, former prisoners, people from the Felon’s Club or the Horseshoe bar, Gaza or the Basque Country, Long Kesh or London or the USA, Canada or South Africa,” he said.

“Stories about his humour, his generosity, his loyalty, his lifelong commitment to republicanism and those of us who worked with him for decades value his friendship and his mischief making, his craic and his insights into the human condition.

“Ted’s life was full and he loved life, and no oration can do justice to him.”

Mr Adams went on to recall Howell living in Canada for just a couple of months, and returning to Belfast amid the civil rights campaign, and saw a war zone develop following events such as the battle of the Bogside and Bloody Sunday in Derry and the introduction of internment.

“Ted took part in protest marches then he joined the Irish Republican Army,” he said. “In March 1972 he was arrested, he was interned, first on the prison ship Maidstone and then in Long Kesh camp.”

Mr Adams described the 1980s as being a significant “decade of change” for Sinn Féin, and Mr Howell’s role in that.

“At this time the two governments, most of the other political parties and sections of the establishment media were wedded to a strategy of defeating republicans,” he said.

“Sinn Féin opted for a peace strategy – of building an alternative to conflict. This required a deep process of strategising. Sinn Féin also came to understand the importance of the international dimension. We began to explore that area of work – most successfully in the USA and eventually in South Africa.

“We also began to develop public policy positions, especially around the fundamental issue of national self-determination. In 1987 we produced Scenario for Peace. And in early 1992 our Ard Fheis agreed a new policy paper – Towards a Lasting Peace in Ireland – which set out the basic tenets of our peace strategy.

“We also built on our contacts with allies in the USA and with John Hume. In the Hume-Adams Agreement we identified national self-determination as central to any agreement.

“The British government refused to grasp the imperative of peace making.

“A new Taoiseach Albert Reynolds was more positive. We succeeded in getting the White House and President Clinton involved and from there Senator George Mitchel and other representatives of the international community. Eventually in April 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was achieved.

“In the course of this work our leadership established an engagement structure with teams of activists and advisors dealing with all the pertinent issues of the ongoing negotiations.

“Ted was central to all of these developments. Ted was at the heart of it all. Ted was the anchor for this work. He provided cohesion, accountability, good practice, oversight and the tracking of issues.”

He added that the late negotiator had “great politics”.

“He had an abiding commitment to sovereignty and independence, to equality, to fairness, and to an Ireland free of the scourge of sectarianism. An Ireland where all of the Irish people, including our unionist/Protestant neighbours, can enjoy their full democratic rights as free citizens in a free Ireland.

“Ted understood strategy and the need for the national question to be constantly at the centre of Sinn Féin strategy. He believed in the importance of Sinn Féin building political strength and of using that political strength to bring about constitutional change. He believed in creating alliances with others as part of the process of change leading to Irish unity…

“A close friend, Dessie Mackin, said during Ted’s wake that he was easy to love. And he was. All of us will have a story or stories about Ted. Stories about his humour, his generosity, his loyalty, his lifetime commitment to Republicanism. Those of us who worked with him for decades value his friendship. And his mischief making. His craic and insights into the human condition. Ted’s life was full and he loved life.

“Ted’s gift to the next generation is that he helped to create a peaceful way to end the union with Britain and to unite the people of our island, free of English rule.

“So Ted is that rare thing. A successful Irish revolutionary. Struggle is a continuum and Ted’s contribution has set us up for the next phase.”

He is survived by his sons Proinnsias and Eamonn, daughter-in-laws Karen and Nora, and grandchildren Micéal, Caoimhe and Amelia.

Urgent Appeal