Mary McArdle

Mary McArdle is an Irish republican and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member.

McArdle was the Ministerial Special Adviser to Sinn Féin Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín and previously an IRA member, convicted of murder in 1984. Her appointment to the position was controversial because of her conviction for the murder of Mary Travers.

McArdle, then aged 19, was arrested shortly after the attack and charged "after two hand guns, a grey wig and a black sock concealed in bandages were found strapped to her thighs." Two months later 33-year-old IRA member Joseph Patrick Haughey, was arrested and charged in connection with the attack. At the trial two years later, McArdle was found guilty and received "a life sentence for her role in the murder of Mary Travers and an 18-year concurrent sentence for the attempted murder of Mr Travers." Haughey was acquitted due to lack of forensic evidence and doubts over his identity, though Tom Travers positively identified him in a line-up. McArdle expressed remorse for the murder of Travers, calling it "a tragic mistake".

Aftermath

In March 2012, Sinn Féin stated that McArdle had been moved from the post of special adviser to the Culture Minister to another post in the Party. She was replaced by Jarlath Kearney, a former journalist, who had previously worked as a Sinn Féin policy adviser. A Sinn Féin spokesperson said it was part of normal party policy to rotate staff.

In 2026, as director of the Falls Road Women's Centre, McArdle was photographed alongside President Catherine Connolly. Mary Travers' sister, Ann, was critical of what she described as a "normalisation" of the violence experienced during the Troubles and called on President Connolly to encourage McArdle to meet with the Travers family and to cooperate with the Historical Enquiries Team. She claimed that McArdle knows who killed her sister and could help bring her justice.