Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny unveils plaque to ‘war criminal’

» Mark Moloney

O’Higgins responded coldly: 'I stand by the 77 executions – and seven hundred and seventy-seven more if necessary'

TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY last night unveiled a plaque in Booterstown in memory of a Justice Minister who ordered the execution of dozens of Irish republican prisoners during the Civil War.

Kevin O’Higgins (below) signed the execution orders for 77 prisoners, including Rory O'Connor, who had been best-man at O’Higgins’s wedding!

O’Higgins was shot dead by three IRA members in July 1927.

Questioned in Sligo two years prior to his death as to whether he regretted the killings of so many defenceless prisoners, O’Higgins responded coldly: “I stand by the 77 executions – and seven hundred and seventy-seven more if necessary.”

A commemoration marking 85 years since his death was held last night in the south Dublin townland of Booterstown. Some callers to Joe Duffy on RTÉ's Liveline radio show yesterday expressed their opposition to the memorial with one caller describing O’Higgins as “a war criminal”.