Northern Ireland

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds held secret meetings with loyalists before 1994 ceasefire

'Albert Reynolds - Risktaker for Peace' by Conor Lenihan is published by Merrion Press and is available to buy now
'Albert Reynolds - Risktaker for Peace' by Conor Lenihan is published by Merrion Press and is available to buy now 'Albert Reynolds - Risktaker for Peace' by Conor Lenihan is published by Merrion Press and is available to buy now

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds held secret meetings with loyalists in Belfast after being picked up in a car by Gusty Spence, a new book reveals.

Former journalist and TD Conor Lenihan has received "details" of the meeting in research for the book.

Mr Reynolds, who died in 2014, was Taoiseach when both the IRA and loyalist paramilitary groups called ceasefires in 1994.

'Albert Reynolds - Risktaker for Peace' charts the political career of the Fianna Fail leader.

Author Conor Lenihan, whose father Brian was a former Irish government minister, uses his unique insight to shed light on Mr Reynold's full role in securing peace.

While his famous handshake with Gerry Adams and John Hume on the steps of government buildings in Dublin in the days after the IRA ceasefire, his work behind the scenes with loyalist paramilitary groups was also critical.

The book reveals details of one extraordinary encounter when Mr Reynolds, who was not accompanied by his security team, and Derry republican Noel Gallagher were spirited to a meeting with loyalists by former UVF leader Gusty Spence.

Mr Lenihan writes that "Noel Gallagher received a call from Reynolds to come over from his native Derry and meet him in a hotel in Belfast.

"Reynolds duly arrived in the hotel with his driver and no security escort, where he met Gallagher and asked him to accompany him to a meeting.

"They left the hotel by a rear kitchen and jumped into a waiting and relatively anonymous car."

The book then quotes Reynolds: ‘We suddenly realised the risk we were both taking: me the Taoiseach, in a car with Gusty Spence, former commander of the UVF and a leading loyalist.

"If we’d been caught, he could have been arrested for kidnapping me!’ said Mr Reynolds.

 Gusty Spence. ..
Gusty Spence. .. Gusty Spence. ..

The pair were later brought to a location where they met with representatives of several loyalist groups.

"Following a circuitous route to east Belfast, Reynolds and Gallagher were shown into a room, where they held a meeting with individuals drawn from the ranks of the diverse loyalist paramilitary groupings. Gallagher, a resolute republican and no stranger to clandestine work, was a little frightened by being there, but Reynolds, for his part, was totally relaxed," Mr Lenihan writes.

"It may well be true to say that nobody else as Taoiseach has taken such extraordinary personal risks."

'Albert Reynolds - Risktaker for Peace' by Conor Lenihan is published by Merrion Press and is available now.