Gerry Adams launches new book on murdered Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams launched his new book on murdered Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton last night.

The book, ’Councillor Eddie Fullerton. Visionary. Patriot. Martyr’ was launched in front of a packed Lake of Shadows Hotel in Buncrana. The book is the latest of the Léarga series.

The launch also coincided with the anniversary of Cllr Fullerton's death in May 1991 by Loyalists. Cllr Fullerton was murdered at his home in Cockhill Park, Buncrana on May 25, 1991 by the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA), his attackers having broken into the house using a sledgehammer. He was shot six times the night after four armed and masked men held a family hostage in Buncrana.

Speaking to the huge crowd, the former West Belfast MP said his life of activism allowed him to meet "tremendous" people like Eddie Fullerton.

He told the audience that "someday in our lives you have to stand up" and that Eddie stood up for what he believed in and set an example for republicans to follow.

"For those of you from Inishowen, Eddie was your councillor that's why he was killed," he said. "They killed him because he represented you and he represented Sinn Féin.

"This book in many ways is a tribute to Dinah and the Fullerton family and I hope a celebration of Eddie's life."

The book delves into the formative years of Cllr Fullerton, his family's time in England and his return to Inishowen to build up republican structures in the peninsula.

Mr Adams told the audience of the many times he spent in Inishowen with the late Martin McGuinness and his time recuperating after being shot by Loyalists in 1984.

"When we drove round the corner into Buncrana I got a wee bit emotional. I haven't been here in some time and it's such a beautiful place. 

"I have many many happy memories here. Martin McGuinness and myself used to sulk around here way back when he was on the gallop. We used to meet up and conspire in the cause for Irish freedom. I've tramped most of the beaches and a lot of hills.

"I was also here in March 1984, I was here for two weeks. I was shot and Collette and I came up and we were in a mobile home owned by a Derry republican family and Raymond Mac Lochlainn and Mary, Padraig's parents took care of us and so did Eddie with his friend Jim Ferry. The two of them were inseparable and full of craic and fun and banter.

"Eddie started taking around places of local interest. He took me to the little key at the Crana River, the Stone Jug, where Wolfe Tone had landed and it's quite poignant now that the memorial for Eddie is beside the memorial to Tone."

Cllr Fullerton was one of a number of Sinn Féín councillors murdered by loyalists in the early 1990s.

Mr Adams said the decision to kill Cllr Fullerton was "British government policy".

"The gang that killed Eddie," he said. "Killed 18 other nationalists and republicans in the north west.

"Eddie was the first councillor to be killed and Amanda (Cllr Fullerton's daughter) quite rightly brings her attention to the failure and the refusal of An Garda Siochana to pursue an investigation properly.

"The British state killed these people. It wasn't just a sectarian killing, it wasn't just a renegade bigot, it was the British state."

Mr Adams told the audience that the root cause of the conflict in Ireland was due to British involvement in Irish affairs.

He said that people like Eddie Fullerton didn't believe that this should be the case.

"One of the things that Eddie brought to his thinking was that 'it didn't have to be like this', he didn't accept that it had to be like this. He didn't accept that Donegal should be way up and cut off from its natural hinterland in the north and cut off from the rest of the island in the south. He set about trying to change that."

Cllr Fullerton's daughter Amanda gave a run down on the progress of the campaign for justice for her father.

Donegal TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn, who chaired the event, told the audience of Eddie's "kindness" and his "humbleness" and of how well he was treated by Cllr Fullerton when his family moved back to Inishowen following the release of his father from prison.