Jim Sullivan (Irish republican)

Jim Sullivan
Belfast City Councillor
In office
1973–1981
Personal details
Born
James Sullivan

c. 1932
Lower Falls, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died(1992-09-16)16 September 1992 (Aged 60)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Resting placeMilltown Cemetery
Political partyWorkers' Party (from 1969)
Sinn Féin (until 1969)
NicknameSolo
Military service
AllegianceOfficial Irish Republican Army
Branch/serviceBelfast Brigade
Battles/warsThe Troubles

Jim Sullivan (c. 1932 – 16 September 1992) was a leading member of the Official Irish Republican Army from the lower Falls area of Belfast.

Sullivan was second in command of the Belfast Brigade of the Official IRA (under Billy McMillen) and played an important role in events in Belfast during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[1] He was chairman of the Central Citizens' Defence Committees established in the city after the burning of many homes by loyalist mobs in the 1969 Northern Ireland Riots.[1] He also played an important role in the Falls Curfew, a three-day gun battle in July 1970 between the Official IRA and the British Army.[2][1]

In later years Sullivan played a leading role in the development of the Republican Clubs, which became the Workers' Party in 1982. In 1973 he was elected to Belfast City Council and retained his seat until the 1981 election when he lost it to the IRSP candidate, Sean Flynn.[2][3]

His son, Seamus, was killed by the Ulster Defence Association at his workplace on Springfield Avenue just off the Falls Road on 3 September 1991.[1][4]

He died on 16 September 1992 aged 60 and is buried at the OIRA/Workers' Party plot in Milltown Cemetery.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e McCann, Joe (7 October 2022). "Jim 'Solo' Sullivan is remembered 30 years on". Belfast Media Group. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b Hanley, Brian & Millar, Scott (2009). The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. ISBN 978-1-84488-120-8.
  3. ^ "Local Election Results Belfast 1973–1981". Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  4. ^ "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2024.