Tom Kerr

Ten Days in July Tom Kerr

In 1993 Ronald McCaul, the chief strategist of the Provos in Northern Ireland and Thomas O'Connor, one of their most famous gunman, escaped from Castlereagh Interrogation Center in Belfast. The two appeared to dissolve into thin air. In July 1998 they reappear in the Republic of Ireland and are arrested by the Garda (the Police Force of the Republic). McCaul, who was sick when arrested, asked O'Connor to take his body home to Wales if he dies. O'Connor agreed to McCaul's request. Within days, McCaul died. Chief Superintendent Patrick T. Kerrigan of the Garda proposed to use O'Connor as a bait to lure members of the Provos into a trap. The trap failed, O'Connor was rescued by the Provos and whisked into Northern Ireland. Kerrigan and his unit become the butt of both official and public criticism. A plan is hatched to transport McCaul's body to Wales, but the authorities from both the Republic and Northern Ireland decided to have McCaul's remains cremated within days. This is to prevent the Provos the opportunity for a public funeral with speeches by the Provos' firebrands. In addition, the British SIS (MI-5) were aware of O'Connors activities from recorded telephone conversations.