Volunteer Martin ‘Doco’ Doherty Commemoration

FAMILY APPEALS THROUGH AN PHOBLACHT | RESPECT OUR WISHES IN HONOURING WIDOW SCALLAN’S BOMB HERO

THE family of Dublin Brigade IRA Volunteer Martin ‘Doco’ Doherty have told An Phoblacht that the family is upset that another republican group tried to march to Doco’s grave the day after this year’s commemoration by them was addressed by Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe.
Doco gave his life for his friends and comrades and people he never even knew on 21st May 1994 when he thwarted a UVF bomb attack on a crowded fund-raising function for prisoners in the Widow Scallan’s pub in Dublin’s Pearse Street.
Scores of people were saved when Doco became suspicious of two men carrying a holdall who tried to enter the pub near the end of the night. Doco challenged the men, was shot three times and died later in hospital. Another man at the function was shot in the throat through the door of the pub. The gunmen fled the scene in a car driven by a third attacker, leaving behind the holdall containing an 18lb bomb.
This month, Doco’s family asked An Phoblacht to a meeting in the family home in Finglas after they heard reports were circulating that the family were split when another group tried to hold a commemoration at Doco’s graveside. Sitting under Doco’s framed IRA beret and gloves and the Tricolour that draped his coffin, almost all of Doco’s family members gathered together and insisted that the family is united. (Other members of the family who could not make the meeting sent their apologies.)
The heroic IRA Volunteer’s family wanted to say specially through An Phoblacht that they are asking other organisations to respect their wishes and not try to parade to what is a family grave. If individuals want to pay their respects then they would be welcome to join the family-supported commemoration or do so individually. An attempt by a group opposed to the Peace Process to march to the family grave on the Sunday had upset them, they said.
Sitting amidst a sea of photos and mementoes of the brave young IRA Volunteer, one of Doco’s sisters told An Phoblacht:
“He was a proud member of Dublin Brigade of Óglaigh na hÉireann and behind the leadership. He joined the IRA and he died as a member of the IRA.”
Prior to An Phoblacht’s meeting with Doco’s family, speaking at his grave on Saturday 21st May, Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe praised the fearless Dubliner’s bravery.
“During the week, coinciding as it did with the English monarch’s visit to Dublin, Sinn Féin TDs raised the issue of British involvement in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings,” he said, referring to the Dáil motion proposed by the party, calling for the release of the intelligence files related to the atrocity.
“Twenty years later, and almost to the day of that terrible event, the UVF returned to Dublin determined to bring more death and destruction,” he said.
“Their attempt to inflict mass carnage on people socialising in the Widow Scallan’s pub was only prevented by the quick thinking of Doco.
“His bravery and quick action was to cost him his life but his sacrifice undoubtedly saved hundreds of others.
“Óglach Martin ‘Doco’ Doherty, a proud Dublin republican, died defending the lives of his friends and all those other innocents who gathered or lived in close proximity to the Widow Scallan’s Pub in Pearse Street.
“Questions surrounding his death remain unanswered to this day,” the Sinn Féin TD said, adding that similar questions are being asked by the loved ones of those who died in Belturbet, Dundalk, Dublin and Monaghan.
“And the undeniable facts are that, despite the horror and carnage, the killings in 1974, and in Doco’s death 20 years later, there was no attempt to investigate these murders properly,” he said.
“The UVF were directed and allowed to travel to Dublin in 1994, in the middle of negotiations towards a ceasefire and a peace process.”
It shows how deeply sinister the real motives of the British securocrats, who directed, sanctioned and ultimately authorised the attack on the Widow Scallan’s Pub, he said, adding that: “They failed to destroy the chance of peace.
“I firmly believe as we stand here at his grave that the uncovering of the truth will also lead to the establishment of conditions that will prevent similar killings ever happening again in our country.
“Surely that reason alone is enough for the British files to be released so proper, open and transparent investigative inquiries can be held into these deaths.”