Peter Graham (born 1946) was an Irish republican and Marxist who worked as an electrician.
Peter Graham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | near St Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Employer | CIÉ |
| Organization(s) | Connolly Youth Movement, Irish Workers' Group, People's Democracy (Ireland), Saor Éire (1967–1975) |
| Known for | Irish republicanism |
Graham was a member of various left-wing movements, a founder of the Young Socialists, and some sources identify him as a leader in the militant Saor Éire organisation.
He was murdered in his flat in Dublin in unclear circumstances in 1971.
Early life
editGraham was born in 1946[1] with father Joseph Graham and raised in The Coombe, Dublin.[2]
Graham was born into a Catholic family, but relinquished religion later in life.[2]
Activism
editGraham worked as an electrician for the CIÉ and was a trade union activist in Ireland and London, England.[2]
Briefly a Labour Party member, Graham left in disillusionment and became a Trotskyite joining the Connolly Youth Movement and the Trotskyist Irish Workers Group (IWG) in 1967.[2] After growing dissatisfied with the ideological stance of the IWG, Graham left and started the League for a Worker's Republic.[2][3] He was also the chair of the Young Socialists[3]and a member of the International Marxist Group.[4]
After IWG collapsed, some members started the People's Democracy organisation, with some of them starting the Saor Éire organisation.[2] While sources identify Graham as a member of Saor Éire,[4] This Week magazine rejects that.[2] He organised a meeting bringing Saor Éire and others together in 1968.[2] He was friends with D.R. O’Connor Lysaght, who both broke away from the International Marxist Group.[5]
Death
editOn October 25, 1971[6] he was murdered in his own flat on St Stephen's Green, Dublin[5] by rivals in Saor Éire, who accused him of being a police informant.[4] Graham was tortured with a hammer and shot in the neck.[7] He was aged 26 at the time of his death.[5]
While magazine This Week reported that Graham's friends attribute his death to a false accusation of being a police informant and also suggested his death was possibly linked to a gun smuggling operation.[8]
Journalist Charlie Bird spoke at his funeral.[3] Both Charlie Bird and Tariq Ali raised a clenched fist at the cemetery.[2]
The Provisional Irish Republican Army issued a statement thanking him for his support.[2]
References
edit- ^ Kevin Squires (2021) Peter Graham 50th Anniversary Poster Archived 2023-07-03 at the Wayback Machine , Irish Republican Marxists History Project
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Murder of a socialist Archived 2023-07-03 at the Wayback Machine (12 Nov 1971) This Week (Magazine)
- ^ a b c Lee, John (27 September 2009). "US official warning... about Citizen Charlie!". Mail on Sunday. p. 15. ProQuest 329107286.
- ^ a b c Smith, Evan; Worley, Matthew, eds. (2021). The British Left and Ireland in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-38902-9.[page needed]
- ^ a b c Lysaght, Rayner (11 July 2021). "Rayner Lysaght Leading activist and historian in the labour movement and a hugely influential figure in Ireland's left-wing political sphere". Sunday Independent. p. 32. ProQuest 2549992983.
- ^ McKittrick, D. (1999). Lost Lives. United Kingdom: Mainstream.
- ^ Williams, Paul (2011). "Saor Eire". Badfellas. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-197029-5. Archived from the original on 2023-06-11. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
- ^ Who Killed Peter Graham? Archived 2023-07-03 at the Wayback Machine (12 Nov 1971) This Week (Magazine)
