A Plea For Peace, directed by David Naglieri and narrated by The Passion Of The Christ star Jim Caviezel, features interviews with Seamus Mallon, Martin Mansergh, Rev Harold Good, Lord David Alton and former IRA bomber Shane Paul O’Doherty.
O’Doherty’s letter-bomb campaign caused explosions at the London Stock Exchange, the Bank of England, and a government building, injuring secretaries and security guards.
O’Doherty, who joined the IRA in Londonderry at 15, found religion while serving a life sentence, and famously wrote to his victims from prison, crediting the Catholic Church for sparking a major turning point in peace negotiations.
“When I first turned away from the IRA and apologised to my victims, I was not taken seriously, everyone thought I wanted early release.
“I was in prison in England when suddenly the Pope arrives in Ireland and speaks to these men, asking them to turn away from violence and make a new life. Suddenly I was taken seriously.
“Weeks after his visit, I had been visited by senior Labour MPs and Father Edward Daly.
“I was the first IRA man to publicly turn away from the IRA in 1977, and after the Pope’s visit, scores of other prisoners left.
“To put the Pope’s visit in context, 28 days before the visit, Mountbatten was killed along with 18 soldiers.
“I believe that was the closest Northern Ireland had ever come to civil war.”
The film focuses…
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