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In 1996, police raided a British residence and detained Michael Gallagher for alleged IRA activities. His partner, an university lecturer working in scientific research, was shocked and indignant.

Attenborough could not believe that her romantic boyfriend – a ex-government worker who helped people with addiction issues – was involved with paramilitary groups. He had previously impressed Attenborough by solving a difficult puzzle in only a few moments.

Court Case

Gallagher was prosecuted with working to enable the IRA carry out bombings at London's major airport in 1994. While the incidents resulted in no injuries or deaths, they caused significant chaos.

Attenborough mustered money and public support to defend her boyfriend's innocence. In spite of the support, Gallagher was found guilty of plotting bomb attacks and received a two-decade imprisonment.

With the exception of a handful of individuals, I didn’t really inform anyone,” she commented. “It was nothing I was particularly pleased with because he had deceived me.”

Admission of Guilt

Currently, nearly three decades following the events, the couple remain in a relationship and have written together a book that reveals Michael was, in fact, responsible.

Gallagher had been involved with republican activities who helped multiple operations, among them the Heathrow attack. He kept secret the truth from his partner and merely admitted after his sentencing, leaving Attenborough stunned.

After Incarceration

After his freedom under the terms of the Northern Ireland settlement, the couple relocated to rural County Donegal and set up a web development business, which they manage to this day.

Their book, named Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love, alternates perspectives between the two and withholds the disclosure of Gallagher's involvement until after his conviction.

I am certain Michael is not a bad person, he is a truly decent person,” she said. “He just didn’t put me first, and I don’t know whether I view it as treachery. He didn’t intend it.”

Past and Partnership

They met in the mid-1980s through groups that supported labor activists and campaigned against racial segregation.

She, from near Birmingham, held a PhD in academic research. Gallagher, a Glaswegian, was an hopeful author and former drinker.

Gallagher had ancestral ties and carried out occasional jobs for the IRA, arranging accommodation, logistics and paperwork for activists in Britain.

Uncovering the Lies

Gallagher kept secret his involvement from his partner, who backed Irish political unity but opposed violent tactics.

“I’d made a vow to the organization and a pledge to Mary and I assumed I could keep it hidden – that I was able to manage both,” he commented.

Security forces recognized Gallagher as a person of interest who had been to a warehouse with evidence of bomb-making materials. Authorities watched his movements and bugged the residence for nearly 24 months, concluding in the surprise arrest at their Earl’s Court home on that autumn day.

Consequences and Thoughts

During 16 months – during her trips to see him and the court case in early 1998 – he maintained his secret.

It was impossible inform her because if I had revealed it at that time, she would have had to tell her brother: ‘Stop seeking sureties for Michael because he’s guilty,’” he explained. “That was really an difficult time.”

The hope of escaping conviction supported his false story until the court found him guilty. Soon afterward, when she visited to discuss possible legal challenges, he admitted his involvement.

In the beginning, I could not decide whether to believe him,” she said. “I thought, then, whose story of the facts ought I believe?”

Emotionally shaken, she contemplated terminating the connection, but in later meetings she took his apologies and justified his clandestine activities.

“Obviously I didn’t agree with this involvement with the IRA. But on the other hand, it was not such a major part that he performed.”

Final Revelations

In the authorship of their memoir, Gallagher revealed a further decades-old secret to his companion: when he quickly solved the word game in the newspaper of a periodical, he had previously completed it in his own copy.