You Didn’t Hear It Here First

Yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph picked up on a Sunday Times story about the furore created by the publication of James Monaghan’s (right) Colombia Jail Journal, a snippet neither read here back on July 9, obviously. Quoth the Telly:

"Revelations that one of the Colombia Three is to publish a book about his experiences in jail were last night greeted with disgust by senior members of the DUP. According to the Sunday Times, James Monaghan will give an inside account of his arrest and subsequent trial in Colombia Jail Journal, to be published in November. Monaghan was one of three Irish men arrested at Bogota airport in August 2001 on suspicion of training Farc rebels in bomb-making techniques based on IRA technology. He and he co-accused, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley, were sentenced to 17 years in prison, but returned to Ireland in August 2005 after skipping bail. An extradition request sent to the Irish authorities was unsuccessful. The Sunday Times quotes Steve McDonagh from Brandon Books, which is publishing the book, as saying it is a “vivid account” of Monaghan’s jail experience. DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who saw the Colombian prison in which the three were held, said it was not morally right that Monaghan should profit. “I’m aware of the deep anger that remains in Colombia that these three fugitives from justice still haven’t been held to account for the crimes they committed. People are still being murdered by Farc using tactics taught by James Monaghan. The proceeds should go to victims rather than making profits for him.” Steve McDonagh told the Sunday Times that Monaghan’s book “tells the story of who he met in Colombia and what he did”. The book is full of atmosphere. It follows the court case but also depicts the difficulties he and the others faced inside jail,” he adds. It’s unclear whether it contains any admission by Monaghan of links to the IRA. The three men deny allegations that they taught Farc guerrillas how to make explosive devices, and claimed that they travelled under false passports to study the Colombian peace process."

The True Crime Round-Up: It’s Crime! It’s True!! And It’s A Round-Up!!!

Some intriguing new Irish true crime offerings for your perusal, people: first up is Padraig O’Keefe’s Hidden Soldier, subtitled ‘An Irish Legionnaire’s Wars from Bosnia to Iraq’. Unable to settle back into civilian life after serving in Bosnia and Cambodia with the French Foreign Legion, O’Keefe became a ‘hidden soldier’ and wound up on ‘security operations’ in Haiti and Iraq. ‘An intense, exciting and vivid account of extraordinary and sometimes horrific events,’ reckon the blurb-elves at O’Brien, and if any of them are reading this, we’d love a review copy, ta very much … Minor Offences: Ireland’s Cradle of Crime is the title of Tom Tuite’s investigation into the underage criminals ‘who spend more time in the courtroom than the classroom’. Alongside the more lurid details of their criminal activity, Tuite explores the backdrop to juvenile crime, concluding that the one constant element that links anti-social behaviours is dysfunctional families. Gill and Macmillan are doing the honours … Finally, Brandon Books will publish James Monaghan’s Colombian Jail Journal in November. “Now, for the first time,” say Brandon’s blurb-elves, “James Monaghan tells the inside story of the Colombia Three: why they were in the demilitarised zone; what they discussed with the FARC rebels; how they survived the daily dangers of their time in prison. It is an extraordinary, unique account.” The burning question: were Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Ferguson – allegedly IRA men advising the FARC rebels on how best to maximise their mass-killing capacity – really in the Colombian demilitarised zone for a spot of bird-watching? Only time, that perennial doity rat, will tell.