Rita O'Hare

[2] In October of the same year, during an armed fight between republicans and the security forces in Andersonstown; she was shot three times by a British army machine gun and another weapon.

[2] O'Hare was arrested in Northern Ireland in 1972 for the attempted murder of British Army Warrant Officer Frazer Paton in Belfast in October 1971.

[2] Sinn Féin had presented her case to the British Government as one of the IRA 'on the runs' (OTRs) under consideration to be allowed to return to Northern Ireland.

[8] Rita O'Hare became close friends with Jean Kennedy Smith who served as the US ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998 and played a significant role in the peace process.

After having to turn down an opportunity to speak at an event in New York in 1998 due to being “on the run”; Jean Kennedy Smith helped secure her a visa.

She built up a variety of contacts on Capitol Hill and the White House and she has been photographed with USA presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well as Nelson Mandela during a 1995 visit to South Africa.