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In 1996, police raided a British residence and detained Michael Gallagher accused of IRA operations. Margaret Attenborough, an scholar focused in geophysical software, was stunned and angry.

She was skeptical that her cerebral partner – a ex-government worker who assisted those in need – could be engaged with Irish republican militants. Gallagher had even amazed her by finishing a challenging word game in just record time.

Court Case

Gallagher was prosecuted with conspiring to assist Irish republicans carry out bombings at Heathrow Airport in the mid-1990s. While these attacks resulted in no loss of life, they caused major chaos.

She raised funds and public support to proclaim her partner's innocence. In spite of the support, Gallagher was convicted of plotting bomb attacks and handed a two-decade prison sentence.

With the exception of a few of people, I hardly tell anybody,” Attenborough commented. “It was nothing I was that proud of because he had deceived me.”

Admission of Guilt

Currently, roughly 30 years following the events, the couple are still in a relationship and have jointly authored a memoir that reveals Michael was, actually, responsible.

He had been an IRA fixer who supported various missions, such as the 1994 mortar launch. Gallagher hid the facts from Attenborough and merely admitted subsequent to his conviction, making Attenborough shocked.

After Incarceration

After Gallagher's liberation under the terms of the Northern Ireland settlement, the pair relocated to a remote area and set up a web development business, which they still operate.

The publication, titled Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love, alternates narratives between the pair and delays the admission of Gallagher's actions until after his trial.

I am certain Gallagher isn’t a evil person, he’s a very good man,” Attenborough remarked. “He simply didn’t put me first, and I don’t know whether I see that as disloyalty. He didn’t intend it.”

History Together

They first encountered each other in the mid-1980s through groups that supported labor activists and campaigned against racial segregation.

Attenborough, from the West Midlands, held a doctorate in theoretical science. Gallagher, from Glasgow, was an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic.

Gallagher had ancestral ties and performed occasional jobs for republican groups, handling accommodation, transport and documents for republican operatives in England.

The Deception Revealed

Gallagher concealed his activities from his partner, who supported Irish political unity but opposed IRA methods.

I had given a vow to the IRA and a pledge to Mary and I assumed I could manage both – that I was able to handle each,” Gallagher commented.

Security forces recognized him as a individual under investigation who had visited a building with traces of bomb-making materials. Authorities placed him under surveillance and eavesdropped on the apartment for a lengthy period, concluding in the surprise arrest at their London residence on 28 October 1996.

Consequences and Thoughts

During many months – including her trips to see him and the court case in February 1998 – Gallagher kept his secret.

It was impossible I could tell her because if I had revealed it then, she would have been obliged to inform my sister: ‘Do not trouble yourselves arranging bail for Michael because he admitted it,’” he said. “That was absolutely an difficult experience.”

The hope of escaping conviction maintained his fiction until the tribunal ruled he was responsible. Soon afterward, when Attenborough met with him to discuss possible legal challenges, he admitted his involvement.

Initially, I didn’t even know whether to accept his admission,” she remembered. “I considered, then, what account of the facts was correct?”

Upset, she thought about terminating the relationship, but in later meetings she took Gallagher’s regrets and rationalised his secret actions.

Clearly I was opposed with this involvement with the organization. However, it was not a leading position that he had.”

Final Revelations

While the writing of their memoir, he shared another decades-old secret to his Attenborough: when he quickly solved the puzzle in the newspaper of a newspaper, he had previously done it in another edition.