Gerard Casey (Irish republican)

Gerard Casey (c. 1960 – 4 April 1989) was member of the 1st North Antrim Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

Casey a Catholic, first joined the IRA in 1985. Like some of his colleagues, his membership was clandestine. In October 1988 Casey's home in Shamrock Park outside Rasharkin (Ros Earcáin) was raided by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). While there they removed a legally held shotgun and drew maps of the interior of the house. Casey was charged with possession of explosives, and was taken away to Castlereagh holding centre.Where he was supposedly tourted for information on his fellow volunteers in IRA.Despite this security forces at the time assured Mr Casey that he would either end up in a cell or a coffin as he once stated to various media outlets.Due to his unbreakable will no information was ever given to the security forces.This ultimately assured his death.Although never proven most if not all parties agree State sponsored collision took place between loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces.

On 4 April 1989 two members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA, a loyalist paramilitary group), wearing balaclavas and green army jackets, burst into his house and shot him with a shotgun and a pistol from close range as he slept. Only Casey was killed in the attack; his wife, who was beside him in the bed, and three children were not harmed. The funeral was attended by a crowd of up too 500 mourners despite a huge police presence of around 200 officers.A minor altercation between police and morners occurred. Neighbours described him as "a quiet family man with no interest in any political activities", Even though his membership was relatively unknown,Casey still remains to this day the most prominent republican to come out of North Antrim. And even Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley condemned the killing as "a diabolical crime showing devilish viciousness" such was the lack of knowledge about Casey's IRA membership. The Conflict Archive on the Internet states that Casey was killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), in disagreement with other sources.

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