The late Sean Garland. Photo: Seamus Farrelly

Sean Garland to be waked in Belfast and Dublin

Sean Garland, former president of the Workers' Party of Ireland, who died at his home in Kentstown on Thursday aged 84, will lie in repose in Belfast and Dublin before cremation in Glasnevin on Tuesday.
A native of Belvedere Place, Dublin, Mr Garland joined the IRA in 1953 and subsequently took part in the Border Campaign from 1954 to 1957.
He was on the attack on the RUC Barracks in Brookeborough in Co Fermanagh on 1 January 1957, which led to the deaths of fellow IRA members Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon.
He became a Marxist during the 1960s and was subsequently a leading member of Official Sinn Féin and the Official IRA, following the split with the Provisional IRA in 1970. He was a key figure in the Official IRA ceasefire in 1972.
In 2005, he was arrested in Northen Ireland on foot of a US extradition warrant. The US Secret Service accused him of conspiring to circulate high-grade counterfeit dollar bills throughout the 1990s with officials from North Korea and Russian spies.
Seán Garland fled to Dublin and was arrested there in 2009. He fought extradition to the United States, and in January 2012, the High Court ruled that US authorities had no jurisdiction to extradite him. The Attorney General's office decided not to contest the ruling.
The Workers' Party paid tribute to its former president, with party president Michael Donnelly saying that he was "a unique and charismatic individual whose contribution to Irish political life cannot be overestimated".
"Sean never took the easy option or the path of least resistance", he said. "He always based his decisions, and his actions, on what he judged to be in the best interests of working class people and the revolutionary socialist project."

He is survived by his wife Mary, daughter Caoimhe, son-in-law Danny, grandchildren Oliver and Alannah, brother Jimmy, sister Chrissie, sister-in-law Bernie, his many nieces, nephews, comrades and friends.
Removal is on Sunday to the Lower Falls Social Club, Belfast, arriving at 1pm where a wake will be held. Removal to Liberty Hall, Dublin, on Monday, arriving at 1pm with wake commencing at 6pm. Funeral on Tuesday, December 18th, at 2pm. at Glasnevin Crematorium.