Larry Marley

Laurence Marley (24 July 1945 – 2 April 1987 ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member from Ardoyne, Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was one of the masterminds behind the 1983 mass escape of republican prisoners from the Maze Prison, where Marley was imprisoned at the time, although he did not participate in the break-out. Marley was described by British journalist Peter Taylor as having been a close friend of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. Marley was shot dead by an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) unit two years after his release from the Maze. His shooting was in retaliation for the killing of leading UVF member John Bingham the previous September by the Ardoyne IRA.

IRA Lawrence Marley was born in Belfast on 24 July 1945 and was raised a Roman Catholic. He grew up in the Ardoyne area in the north of the city and attended Holy Cross Boy's Primary and St. Gabriel's Secondary schools. He became involved with the IRA in the early stages of the Troubles, and was a member of an active service unit in the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade until his arrest in late 1972. At the time he was married to Kate and the father of three sons. He was sent to Long Kesh (Maze Prison). In March 1975, he, along with nine other IRA men, escaped from Newry courthouse, where he was on trial for an attempted escape from Long Kesh. having come up with the idea with the aim of embarrassing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as the Maze was considered to be one of the world's most secure prisons. Marley, unlike his three co-conspirators, did not take part in the break-out as his release date was coming up. He was 41 years old at the time of his death and had six sons, the youngest aged two weeks. According to journalist Peter Taylor, he was a close friend of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, The shooting was in retaliation for the Ardoyne IRA's killing of leading UVF member John Bingham the previous September.

The UVF released a statement afterwards regarding the shooting:

Laurence Marley had served a long prison sentence for IRA activities including blackmail and possession of arms and explosives. Upon his release, he became re-involved with the organisation and this re-involvement cost him his life According to Gerry Adams, Marley's funeral witnessed the largest "display of Republican support since the hunger strikes" in 1981.

UVF member Gerry Spence was one of the men later charged with Marley's killing; but when he was brought to trial in April 1988, he was acquitted of Marley's murder.

There is a memorial plaque commemorating Marley in Ardoyne Avenue, close to its junction with Havana Gardens.

Cultural references In the 2017 film Maze dramatising the 1983 prison break, directed by Stephen Burke, Marley was portrayed by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.