Rita A Memoir

Rita O'Hare grew up in West Belfast, a community alienated from unionist one-party government, a people suffering decades of sectarian discrimination, with the threat of state violence as reprisal should they attempt to challenge their second-class citizenship. As a mother of three young children she felt she could no longer ignore what was going on and made a stand by joining the Irish Republican Army. She was shot and grieviously wounded by the British Army on an IRA operation, and was imprisoned three times. She became Sinn Féin National Director of Publicity. Rita was the party's representative in Washington for almost twenty years, having played a prominent role in the peace process, particularly as a Sinn Féin contact with the Irish government.

Rita O'Hare died on 3 March, 2023, after a long battle with cancer.