Joe O'Connell (Irish republican) security wing of Portlaoise Prison, Ireland, in early 1998. They were presented by Gerry Adams to the 1998 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis as 'our Nelson Mandelas', and were released together with Brendan Dowd and Liam Quinn in 1999 as part of the Belfast Agreement. Joe O'Connell (Irish republican) Martin Joseph O'Connell (born 1951), better known as Joe, is an Irish republican and a former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He is most noted for having been a member of the Balcombe Street gang. O'Connell was born in Kilkee, in rural County Clare, 'a stronghold of Gaelic-speaking inhabitants
Friends of Sinn Féin Friends of Sinn Féin The Friends of Sinn Féin is the name of five different Irish republican political non-profit organisations located in Scotland, England, Canada, the United States and Australia. Sinn Féin USA, Located in New York City, is the largest and most successful. Each FOSF is associated with the political party Sinn Féin, and works with the Irish-Scots, Irish English, Irish Canadian, Irish American and Irish Australian communities to foster good relations between the Sinn Féin party and the governments of those countries. Many Sinn Féin politicians engage in international speaking tours to raise support for their party. This