Profile: Since the IRA's categoric denial of involvement in the Northern Bank heist, the author of its 'official' statements is coming under scrutiny, writes Deaglán de Bréadún
We hang upon his every word and the fate of the whole island may depend upon his statements. Yet he is, in the words of the poet W.B. Yeats, "a man who does not exist, a man who is but a dream".
No one has ever seen his face, because he doesn't have one. Nobody has ever met him, because there is no one to meet. Yet his name keeps cropping up at the most difficult moments in the peace process. You know things are coming to a head when the cry is raised, "What does P. O'Neill say about this? When are we going to hear from P. O'Neill?"
P. O'Neill is the name appended to IRA declarations to show that the statement is genuine. IRA representatives delivering statements to journalists make a particular point of stressing that "P. O'Neill" must appear at the end, to give it the status of a formal declaration. They may be keeping one eye out for the Garda or PSNI at the time, but the other is firmly on the bottom line.
Ironically, the media as well as "Official Ireland" also insist on the P. O'Neill "Q-mark". In the aftermath of the recent bank robbery, it wasn't enough for Sinn Féin's leader Gerry Adams to say he had been assured by the IRA that it wasn't responsible. A statement in the name of P. O'Neill was demanded and, in time, that was what we got.
But that curt two-sentence pronouncement wasn't enough to convince the sceptics, because P. O'Neill's credibility has suffered in recent years. Even bitter enemies used to concede that his statements could be relied upon, but there have been a number of occasions where P. O'Neill led us astray, e.g., indicating that the IRA was not responsible for the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe nor, previously, for the shooting dead of Newry postal worker Frank Kerr in 1994.
Like so much else to do with the IRA, the origins of P. O'Neill are mysterious and obscure. The satirist Myles na Gopaleen invented a character called, "The Man Who Was Born For Ireland". P. O'Neill could be said also to belong to this category.
From the late 1930s onward, IRA statements were issued in the name of Joseph McGarrity, a native of Carrickmore, Co Tyrone who emigrated to the US where he was a prominent supporter of Irish republicanism. Unlike P. O'Neill, McGarrity was a real person, who was alive when his name was first used, and died in August, 1940.
When violence erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, one of the first consequences was a split in the IRA, which broke up into Official and Provisional wings. Since the Official IRA retained the use of J. McGarrity's name, the Provisionals needed a name of their own. According to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, now president of Republican Sinn Féin, it was Seán Mac Stiofáin, as chief of staff of the Provisionals, who invented the name "P. Ó Néill". But Ó Brádaigh stresses that Mac Stiofáin, English-born but an enthusiastic Gaeilgeoir, used the Irish-language version, rhyming with "nail" instead of "kneel", with a síneadh fada on the O and E and no apostrophe.
As far as Ó Brádaigh is aware, there was no historical or political significance to the name, apart from the fact that it was definitely in Irish and not English. Appropriately for a mythological figure, the name was just plucked out of the sky. It was always assumed to be a man's name, which doubtless reflects the state of gender politics in republican circles at the time. (Another republican source says there was an actual IRA volunteer called P. O'Neill).
Over the years, the Irish-language version has faded into the background and P. O'Neill is solidly Anglophone these days. He may still have a Gaelic first name, as P is thought to stand for Pádraig (not "Pinocchio", as Ian Paisley Jr has suggested), but this is never spelt out. A former republican in the North recalls that, in the early days of the Troubles, statements were issued in the name of "S. O'Neill" but this may have been confined to the Belfast Brigade.
As well as having a fictional name, it appears that P. O'Neill's address is also invented. Former republican activists say there is no such place or body as "The Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, Dublin". But Dublin is the capital of the hoped-for United Ireland and statements must be sourced from there, regardless of where they are actually composed.
Although he is a man of few words and certainly not given to lyrical touches or literary flourishes, the republican ghostwriter is not always clearly understood.
His New Year statement on behalf of the IRA failed to mention the Northern Bank heist and this was taken as an admission of guilt. But long-time IRA-watchers say this particular statement was probably agreed and composed prior to the robbery and several weeks before it was issued.
"In days of old, that statement would have been prepared two or three weeks beforehand by the army council. They don't all live in the same street," says a former republican activist.
P. O'Neill is currently going through the greatest crisis of his 35-year existence. His credibility is on the line. The anonymous balaclava-clad scribe has gone out on a limb with his categoric denial that the IRA did the Belfast bank job.
Meanwhile PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde is sticking to his guns, so to speak, in blaming the robbery on the IRA. EVEN P. O'NEILL'S most loyal and devoted followers are finding this a difficult time. His pronouncements have always had the status of infallibility in such circles but the avalanche of media and political criticism, combined with the repeated claims of the PSNI head, are testing the loyalty of the faithful. There is, in James Connolly's phrase, "a carnival of reaction" and a wide range of people are settling old scores with the republican movement.
At the same time, such is the alienation in certain quarters in the North that some grassroots republicans are saying they "hope" it was the IRA while others suspect a British intelligence masterstroke. P. O'Neill's latest brief denial has muddied the waters somewhat, but the real test will come if and when the police catch the perpetrators. In light of the chilling smoothness and cold-blooded efficiency of the robbery, we are clearly not dealing with amateurs here. It could be a long time before anyone is caught, if ever.
Up to now, the IRA and Sinn Féin have been pretty well acting in lockstep - "two sides of the same coin" as their opponents say. Have we come to a stage where some IRA elements have given up on negotiations?
Given the long years of involvement in the peace process by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, how could they remain in the same movement with people who could put all that effort at risk? Are we seeing a similar process of differentiation to the one that took place between Fianna Fáil and the IRA in the late 1920s and 1930s?
P. O'Neill's answer to all these questions is, "We were not involved". It's not enough to silence the critics in what may be the biggest-ever crisis to hit the peace process. He would need to tell us a lot more and let us into some of his secrets. If he didn't do it, then who did?
Sadly, he's unlikely to take us into his confidence. P. O'Neill doesn't "do" dialogue.
At the end of the day, for all the high profile, he's simply a messenger boy.
The P O'Neill File
Who is he?
Pseudonymous spokesman for the Provisional IRA since the Troubles started.
Why is he in the news?
He's denying IRA involvement in the massive Northern Bank raid in Belfast but hardly anyone believes him.
Most appealing characteristic
Brevity.
Least appealing characteristic
Nearly always the bearer of bad news.
Most likely to say
"It's all a plot by the securocrats and MI5."
Least likely to say
"We did it, we're awfully sorry and we're giving the money back right away."