03/09/2026
Since this statement was released Minister Lyons has commented saying that the event was wrongly advertised by Sinn Fein and was never going to take place in the library.
Minister Lyons Must Act Over IRA Memoir Library Launch
Statement by TUV chairman and East Londonderry Assembly candidate Allister Kyle:
“I am appalled that a publicly funded community facility in Kilrea - the local library - is apparently being used to launch and sell Martina Anderson’s autobiography.
“This is not an ordinary literary event. In this book, Martina Anderson recounts how she terminated her unborn child because she had committed herself to an IRA terrorist arrack in England and did not want to let her criminal comrades down.
“She was later convicted of conspiring to cause explosions and sentenced to life imprisonment. Yet this appalling episode is now packaged as a story of “struggle, comradeship and resilience”, with members of the public invited to hear her account first-hand.
“To compound matters, the advertisement states that proceeds from the book will go towards constructing a monument to Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander.
“Public libraries should be shared and welcoming spaces for the entire community. They should not provide a platform for the romanticisation of IRA terrorism or facilitate fundraising for monuments honouring those who led that terrorist organisation.
“This is not about banning a book or preventing anyone from expressing a political opinion. There is a clear difference between making a book available to readers and allowing a publicly funded facility to host a promotional and fundraising event which sanitises terrorism.
“Many innocent people across Northern Ireland and Great Britain were murdered, maimed or bereaved by the IRA’s bombing campaign. Libraries NI and the Communities Minister Gordon Lyons must explain who authorised this event, what consideration was given to its deeply offensive character and whether public premises, staff or resources are being used to facilitate it.”
Note to editors
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston has today tabled the following question to Minister Lyons:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether Kilrea Library, or any premises, staff or resources belonging to Libraries NI, are being used to facilitate the launch and sale of Martina Anderson’s autobiography, the proceeds of which are advertised as contributing towards a monument to former IRA commander Martin McGuinness; who authorised the event; what assessment was made of its impact upon victims of IRA terrorism; and whether he considers it appropriate for publicly funded library facilities to host an event promoting an account which includes the author’s decision to have an abortion so that she could participate in an IRA operation in England.
NB Since this statement was released Minister Lyons has commented saying that the event was wrongly advertised by Sinn Fein and was never going to take place in the library.
