Bobby Storey

Robert Storey (11 April 1956 – 21 June 2020) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Prior to an 18-year conviction for possessing a rifle, he also spent time on remand for a variety of charges and in total served 20 years in prison. He also played a key role in the Maze Prison escape, the biggest prison break in British penal history.

Early life The family was originally from the Marrowbone area, on the Oldpark Road in North Belfast. The family had to move when Storey was very young due to Ulster loyalist attacks on the district, moving to Manor Street, an interface area also in North Belfast. Storey's uncle was boxing trainer Gerry Storey and his father, also called Bobby, was involved in the defence of the area in the 1970s when Catholics were threatened by loyalists.

Storey was one of four children. He had two brothers, Seamus and Brian, and a sister Geraldine. These included the McGurk's Bar bombing in the New Lodge, some of those killed being people who knew his family, and also Bloody Sunday. This then led to his attempts to join the IRA. He had been arrested 20 times previous to this but was too young for internment. In October 1974 he took part in the protest at Long Kesh against living conditions where internees set fire to the "cages" in which they were being held. He was released from internment in May 1975. He was released after the case could not be proved, only to be charged with shooting two soldiers in Turf Lodge. Tuite escaped from the same prison prior to the trial, and the other two IRA volunteers were convicted, but Storey was acquitted at the Old Bailey in April 1981. Released in 1994, he was again arrested in 1996 and charged with having personal information about a British Army soldier, and Brian Hutton, the Lord Chief Justice. At his trial at Crumlin Road Courthouse in July 1998, he was acquitted after his defence proved the personal information had previously been published in books and newspapers.

It is alleged that the March 2002 Castlereagh police station break-in was planned by Storey as the alleged IRA Director of Intelligence. Confidential records and files held in the Special Branch offices were stolen during the raid. It is also alleged that a rogue Special Branch officer may have been involved. In both cases, Storey denied any involvement.

In October 2002, during Stormontgate, a bag belonging to Storey containing secret documents was seized from the home of double agent Denis Donaldson during his arrest. The PSNI had been attempting to arrest Storey in possession of the bag, but had failed to do so and arrested Donaldson instead.

On 9 September 2015, Storey was arrested and held for two days in connection with the killing of former IRA volunteer Kevin McGuigan the previous month. He was subsequently released without any charges, and his solicitor John Finucane stated Storey would be suing for unlawful arrest.

Death Storey died in Newcastle upon Tyne, England on 21 June 2020 following an unsuccessful lung transplant surgery. Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald described him as "a great republican" in her tribute. His funeral procession in Belfast on 30 June was attended by over 1,500 people including McDonald, deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, and former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, but was criticised for breaking social distancing rules implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which, at the time operating in Northern Ireland, limited funeral numbers to no more than 30 mourners.

Cultural references In the 2017 film Maze dramatising the 1983 prison break, directed by Stephen Burke, Storey was portrayed by Irish actor Cillian O'Sullivan.