Dear Reader,
The tribute you made to Emmet Stagg who passed away recently (23rd March) referenced a significant event involving his brother Frank Stagg (known as Proinsias), who was a prominent Provisional IRA member, dying in prison following a hunger strike back in 1976. The article reported that Emmet, among other notable individuals of the era, was subjected to threats by IRA members due to his resistance to his brother’s interment in the republican site at Ballina, Co Mayo, after being firstly interned in the family tomb close to Hollymount.
In contrast, the available records confirm that under the directive of the Fine Gael/Labour administration, Frank Stagg was interred in an anonymous burial site at Leigue Cemetery, Ballina, not the family tomb, after his casket was forcibly snatched from family members, his mother included. It’s a known fact that Frank expressed his wishes before his death to be laid to rest alongside his compatriot and fellow hunger striker, Michael Gaughan, in the republican burial site in Ballina.
His mother’s support for her son was steadfast throughout, and she was absolutely convinced that supporting Frank was a family obligation. She, along with other family members, were waiting to receive Frank’s body at Dublin airport. Unknown to them, the government had issued a directive to change the plane’s course to Shannon. As you rightly pointed out, there was intimidation: Upon landing, George Stagg, Frank’s brother who was travelling with his coffin, was arrested and transported to Ennis Garda station.
The Special Branch bundled the coffin away at Shannon Airport, refusing to allow anyone, including his mother, to be near it. The coffin was then transported by air to Mayo under the guard of the Army Garda.
Private vehicles were banned from the funeral procession. Instead, the procession included an estimated 20 military tanks and around 50 Garda vans. Temporary barricades were established to deter anyone from trailing the procession.
The cemetery was under constant Garda surveillance for a year and a half. Every visitor to the tomb, the mother included, was documented, interrogated, and photographed.
In July of the following year, the top layer of soil was removed from the grave, which was then filled with a four feet thick layer of concrete. The Garda then retreated, seemingly convinced that the grave had now been permanently sealed.
George Stagg subsequently found out that the government had not footed the bill for the grave.
In 1977, he acquired a piece of land and the adjacent plot. During that November, he along with others excavated the unoccupied plot, exhumed Frank’s body, and reburied it in the neighbouring republican plot next to Michael Gaughan. This act fulfilled a commitment George had made to his brother.
Frank Stagg’s body being seized by the government had been endorsed by Emmet who, as you rightly pointed out, was a relentless critic of the IRA. This resulted in a rift within the family, though it’s comforting to report that this has since been resolved, with Emmet and his kin having comprehensively set aside their political inclinations. These days, the Stagg family stand together harmoniously as a close-knit unit. – Yours faithfully,
DANNY MORRISON,
Belfast.