In the shadow of the GPO: how a court hearing led to gunshots on O'Connell Street

The Dock

It was a clear, bright day in spring and the city’s main street was thronged with shoppers. Unbeknownst to the busy Dubliners, a major drama that caused bitter recriminations between the British and Irish Governments was about to be played out in a narrow street beside the historic GPO.

Just after one o’clock in the afternoon, with the minds of the city crowds moving to thoughts of lunch, a melee broke out at the entrance to the British Home Stores (now Penneys) on the corner of Prince’s Street North.

In the shadow of the GPO, scores of Sinn Fein supporters, including party President Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Director of Publicity Danny Morrison, desperately tried to prevent garda detectives from arresting young Belfast woman Evelyn Glenholmes.

As scuffles broke out, a plain clothes garda detective drew his handgun and fired at least three shots in the air, causing terrified shoppers to flee in disarray.

“Sinn Fein’s Danny Morrison calmly confronted the detective who had discharged his gun and told him to put it away”

While other detectives, unsure of what was happening, drew their own weapons, Sinn Fein’s Danny Morrison calmly confronted the detective who had discharged his gun and told him to put it away.

The clearly bewildered garda then withdrew from the scene as other detectives arrested Glenholmes and brought her to the Bridewell. She appeared before a District Court judge, who ordered her release on the basis that gardai had not properly granted her freedom following and earlier court appearance that day.

All hell broke loose 

GPO 3

The day’s dramatic events had begun at 10am on March 2nd, 1986 at the Dublin District Court. There, in the glare of the attending press corps, lawyers for Glenholmes successfully argued that a total of nine extradition warrants for her were “defective.”

Scotland Yard had issued the warrants for Glenholmes in connection with the murder of a woman who was killed during a 1981 bomb attack by the Provisional IRA in London. British police said they had fingerprint evidence linking Glenholmes to the IRA’s campaign in Britain.

After hearing submissions from both State’s counsel and the distinguished defence counsel Mr Patrick Mc Entee SC, representing Glenholmes, Justice Peter Connellan ruled that the Scotland Yard warrants were faulty and ordered her release from custody.

All hell broke loose as Glenholmes, her supporters, the press and a large group of detectives grappled with each other outside the court. As detectives tried to block her away, Glenholmes was grabbed on either arm by two men, one of whom was veteran IRA figure Kevin Mallon, and manhandled towards a waiting car.

Unmarked garda cars tried to block the car containing Glenholmes from leaving the Four Courts area but the car eventually sped off, followed in close pursuit by several unmarked garda cars.

Glenholmes was initially taken to Sinn Fein’s offices at Parnell Square. She later left the offices surrounded by Sinn Fein supporters, including Adams, McGuinness and Morrison. The group was tightly followed by a large party of detectives who, by then, had received a fresh extradition request from Scotland Yard.

When the drama finally spilled over on O’Connell Street around lunchtime, hundreds of shoppers found themselves at the epicentre of explosive legal and political melee as shots were fired in to the air.

 Spirited Away

Following her second appearance before the District Court shortly after two o’clock, and after the judge ordered her release, Glenholmes left the court with lawyers and this time the gardai stayed back.

She was immediately spirited away and later reports suggested that she travelled to Europe and possibly to the United States.

The Glenholmes affair led to bitter recriminations, with London accusing Dublin of being “soft” on IRA terrorists. Dublin responded by arguing that the British had a history of issuing legally unsound extradition requests which no Irish administration could stand over.

The extradition of IRA and INLA suspects from the Republic to Northern Ireland Britain in the 1980’s had a troubled history and led to frequent political rows.

The case of Evelyn Glenholmes proved to be the most dramatic public manifestation of that troubled history, as Saturday shoppers on the capital’s iconic thoroughfare were caught up in the terrifying realities of the Troubles, all within touching distance of the battle-scarred columns of the GPO.