23-04-2025
Sallins Train Robbery: The IRSP members wrongly imprisoned for IRA heist (Part 1)
Innocent man says he was tortured into a confession by 'The Heavy Gang' and insists State covered it upOsgur Breathnach was 25 at the time, and the editor of the socialist newspaper The Starry Plough, and a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP).
On the night of March 30th, 1976, a gang of armed men held a family hostage in rural County Kildare and derailed a mail train carrying the equivalent of over €1 million in cash and valuables.
It was one of the most audacious robberies in the history of the Irish state—but today, it is remembered for very different reasons.
What followed was one of the longest and most controversial trials in the history of the Irish state—one that would see Osgur Breatnach's conviction overturned, but not before spending 17 months in Portlaoise prison.
The IRA would later claim responsibility for the Sallins robbery, and nearly five decades on, Osgur is still seeking justice for his treatment in the Bridewell Garda station and wrongful conviction.
Host; Kevin Doyle. Guest; Osgur Breathnach.
