Fallen Comrade of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement Gino Gallagher National Organiser/National Executive Member - Irish Republican Socialist Party Chief of Staff - Irish National Liberation Army Assassinated on 30 January 1996 Gino Gallagher, age 32, was an extremely charismatic and popular republican socialist activist, admired across republican lines and within the broader working class community. He was assassinated by a criminal mercenary acting on behalf of a small group of counter- revolutionaries. He was born on 12 October 1963 and grew up in West Belfast. Inspired by the 1981 hunger strike and a strong interest in Irish history, he joined the Irish Republican Socialist Movement's youth wing, the Patsy O'Hara Youth Movement (named for one of the INLA prisoners who died during the 1981 hunger strike), and later joined the IRSP and the INLA. Imprisoned by the British on three occasions, he emerged from prison a very dedicated and well-read activist. After his last release from prison in 1991, he became the IRSP's prisoner welfare officer and a staff officer in the INLA. By 1995 he was the party's national organiser and a member of its national executive, as well as the army's chief of staff. He was credited with helping to politically re-establish the IRSP, renovating and re-opening Costello House (the IRSP's headquarters on the Falls Road in West Belfast), and pushing the primacy of politics within the IRSM in the tradition of Seamus Costello and Thomas "Ta" Power. He was also credited with helping to restore the reputation of the INLA and ensuring that it remained subordinate to the political direction of the IRSP, as well as being personally responsible for assassinating several pro-British paramilitary figures within their own community strongholds. His energy and commitment to the causes of socialism and national liberation were unequaled, and acted as an inspiration and example for others to follow. A memorial to Gallagher and other comrades was unveiled in the Lower Falls area of West Belfast on 10 April 2003. He died as he lived: a Republican Socialist. Remember him with honour and pride. http://www.irsp.ie/Background/fallen/gallagher.html Article about the memorial unveiling: http://tinyurl.com/2carfxp Irish News biography of Gino Gallagher: http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/gallagher-irishnews.htm Funeral oration for Gino Gallagher: http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/gallagher-oration.htm
