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
Seán Mackin (Irish republican) Seán Mackin (Irish republican) Seán Mackin is an Irish republican from Belfast, Northern Ireland and a fundraiser for the Friends of Sinn Féin (FOSF). Mackin, who had been a member of the Irish National Liberation Army, left Belfast with his family and applied for political asylum in the United States, alleging harassment and threats from the security forces. Mackin was also under threat from a murderous internal feud within the INLA. Immigration Judge Annette Elstein granted Mackin's wife and daughter Philomena and Jennifer political asylum in 1991. Seán Mackin was not granted asylum (as is sometimes misreported) but was granted