Born in Belfast in 1951, Patrick Magee joined the IRA and received eight life sentences for his role in the Brighton bombing. He completed a PhD in prison and was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He is the author of Gangsters or Guerrillas? Representations of Irish Republicans in “Troubles Fiction” and Where Grieving Begins: Building Bridges After the Brighton Bomb.
As a member of the Irish Republican Army, I planted a time bomb at the Tory Party conference in 1984 and tried to kill Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Here’s what led me to that point — and why I believe in the peace process today.