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New York Times
4 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Patrick Ryan, ‘Terror Priest' Who Aided the I.R.A., Is Dead at 94
Patrick Ryan, who grew up in the 1930s in County Tipperary, Ireland, understood that as the second son — and one of six children — he could not hope to inherit the family farm. But that didn't concern him. He had known since the age of 10 that he wanted to become a Roman Catholic priest. In those days, he once said, nothing confirmed the social status of a family in rural Ireland more than 'a bull in the field, a pump in the yard and a priest in the family.' When he was 14, he entered a junior seminary run by the Pallottine order, also known as the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, which preaches comity and mercy. But even then, there were hints that he might someday find a calling more aligned with his natural proclivities. Every night, he thrilled to stories his mother would tell about fending off the Black and Tans, the loathed British paramilitary forces (named for the uniform they wore), during the Irish War of Independence. An accomplished poacher even as a child, he was skilled at shooting and skinning wild rabbits. Later, in East Africa, he would shoot elephants for sport. Posted there by the Pallottine order in the 1950s, Father Ryan built housing and hospitals and distributed pharmaceuticals. He learned how to excavate freshwater wells and pilot a plane, which he flew on daring medical missions. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Yahoo
Father Patrick Ryan, the IRA's ‘Terror Priest' whose detonators were used in the Brighton bomb
Father Patrick Ryan, who has died aged 94, was a curate in London during the early days of the Troubles who moonlighted as a robber, money launderer and the IRA's linkman with the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi; gifted and arrogant, he refused to join the IRA, but ploughed his own furrow as a bomb-maker responsible for hundreds of deaths, earning the nickname 'the Padre' from his allies – and, from the press, 'the Terror Priest' and 'the Devil's Disciple'. He was born in Co Tipperary in 1930, the second son of a family of six on a small farm. He joined the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, the Pallottine Fathers, aged 14, became a talented amateur engineer and a mercy pilot as a missionary in Tanganyika. There were clues in his youth to what he would become. His mother was a gifted storyteller who gripped him with stories about her heroism and the wickedness of the Black and Tans a decade before he was born; mothers have traditionally been the primary passers-on of Irish tales of British injustice. 'I was captivated by her stories,' he told his biographer, Jennifer O'Leary, in The Padre: The True Story of the Irish Priest Who Armed the IRA with Gaddafi's Money. 'It was like I was back there with her, watching and listening out for the enemy. All she wanted was for us to listen, and we did. All you had to do was mention the subject and she was off, it was in her bones.' From an early age Ryan displayed characteristics that would be useful in facilitating mass murder: as an eight-year-old poacher of fish, pheasants and rabbits, he showed himself more ruthless than his siblings, who called him Paddy the Skinner. Later, in Tanganyika, he would show an aptitude and enjoyment for big game hunting. When he became a fierce anti-colonialist, he felt remorse for killing three elephants, saying: 'It was elephant country before any man or women.' But he showed no remorse for the men, women and children whose murders he facilitated: 'The only regret I have was that I wasn't more effective; that the bombs made with the components I supplied didn't kill more. That is my one regret.' He was bored with the spiritual part of his job and quit as a curate in 1973. He based himself for a time in Benidorm, collecting millions in donations from the Continent and beyond, which he laundered and delivered to the IRA in complex financial operations. But his major contribution was to transform the efficacy of the IRA's bombs, which had suffered from faulty detonators. In 1975, having spotted Memo Park timers in a Geneva shop window, he purchased the entire stock, which he re-engineered to become perfect bomb timers that would feature in atrocities including the 1979 Warrenpoint massacre of 18 British soldiers and the 1984 Brighton bombing that almost killed Margaret Thatcher. A skilful global arms and finance procurer – 'I set out to go around the world and discover the enemy of my enemy, the Brits, and make their enemy my friend' – he was also quartermaster of a brutally effective IRA murder squad in Belgium and a leading suspect in murders on the Continent. Amid furious international rows Mrs Thatcher unsuccessfully sought to have him extradited from Belgium and Ireland ('Ryan is a really bad egg,' she told the then Taoiseach Charles Haughey); met with indifference in Belgium, hostility in Ireland and the obduracy of the European Court of Human Rights, she failed at every turn. Ryan secured 30,000 votes as an independent candidate in the 1989 European elections in Ireland. In 1993 he was expelled from the Pallottine Order 'for persistent refusal to comply with the legitimate instructions of his superiors'. He fell out with Martin McGuinness ('not to be trusted') and other prominent IRA men such as Joe Cahill ('reckless') and Brian Keenan (who 'should never have been let loose on society'). An attractive young English Protestant became smitten with him in London and sometimes shared the van in which he lived, but he permitted little intimacy in his life. 'I would say she was in love with me, yes,' he said. 'I gave it no thought, but I kept in touch with her because you see, you never know when you might need to call in a favour.' Indeed, she became a money mule until he ditched her as a security risk. 'The trick is to be patient,' he explained to his biographer, 'because, you see, every person wants something badly, and if you can wait and slowly find out what that something is and then provide it, you're a winner in any walk of life.' Patrick Ryan, born 1930, died June 15 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
CBC
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Sudburian builds fleet of Star Wars droids as a hobby
Sudbury man makes Star Wars droids as a hobby 5 days ago Duration 1:37 Social Sharing If you're a Star Wars fan in the Sudbury, Ont., area, these might be the droids you're looking for. Since 2019, software engineer Patrick Ryan has embraced the art of building droids, the robot characters from Star Wars. His creations have grown in complexity, and now he brings them to multiple conventions each year, letting fans interact with real-life versions of their favourite fictional characters. "I just love the aesthetic of them," said Ryan. "Kids especially, they just think it's real." Ryan's creations have grown in complexity since his first build in 2019. His first project was an MSE-6 repair droid—sometimes called a 'mouse droid'—which was built on an old remote control car. But his signature piece is a BB-8 droid, a much more complex creation from 2015's The Force Awakens. The main body of the droid is the rough size and shape of a soccer ball, but a floating 'head' piece rests on the top of the robot as the ball rolls freely underneath. "It doesn't look like it should work. It does look like magic," Ryan said. A lifelong passion for electronics Ryan uses 3D printing to create the parts for his droids and hides an array of electronic components inside the robots to enable their various functions, from movement to sounds. He estimates the BB-8 cost more than $1,000 to build, a process which lasted a year and a half. However, he didn't have to develop the blueprints from the ground up. An online community of droid-builders share their plans so others can recreate and upgrade their own droids. Ryan developed an improved circuit board to reduce the mess of wires inside, and also add an MP3 audio player to reproduce the droids' sound effects. He then shared those board designs back to the group so future builders could benefit from his work. Ryan studied electronics in college after growing up tinkering with gadgets of all kinds. He now works as a software developer. Having grown up in the 1980s, Ryan said he has always been exposed to Star Wars, but it was the 2015 sequel trilogy that reignited his passion for the franchise. That's what linked him back to his passion for electronics. Droids more advanced than movie props Ryan's latest creation is known as a B2EMO. He said the build process was similar, since other builder-groups exist with pre-made plans that he could 3D print and program. However, this unit is a relatively new addition to the Star Wars franchise, so few other models exist. An added challenge is that, during the filming, the droids were often not functional at all. Instead, puppeteers manipulated the robots and were edited out of the shot in post-production. "In the case of BB-8, there was never one that was operated, like you see with mine. It's just, it's so complicated," said Ryan. "Anytime it encounters a bump, the head falls off." However, the film team did complete a functional, remote-controlled BB-8 prototype in time for the film's red carpet premiere. As someone with a successful build, many people take notice of Ryan and his BB-8 at fan conventions. The puppeteer who worked on the set of Star Wars met Ryan at Toronto Comicon, and used Ryan's droid for fan photos. Ryan also has a photo with his BB-8 and television personality Adam Savage. Ryan said he knows of two other droid-builders in the Sudbury area, but he suspects more may exist. Although Sudbury's Graphic-Con is often the best way to see Ryan's droids in person, the event was cancelled this summer. The next chance for the public to meet Ryan and his creations will be at Fan Expo in Toronto in August.
Sunday World
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
Priest who admitted role in IRA bombings and arms dealing dies in Dublin aged 95
Fr Patrick Ryan admitted his role in arming the IRA for a series of bombings on mainland Britain, including the attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton A Catholic priest who admitted his role in arming the IRA for a series of bombings on mainland Britain, including the attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984 targeting Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has died. Fr Patrick Ryan had been accused of involvement in Provisional IRA activity in 1988 and had been the subject of two unsuccessful extradition attempts at a time when Mrs Thatcher called him 'a very dangerous man'. Fr Ryan, who was a native of Rossmore, Co Tipperary, died in Dublin on Sunday at the age of 95 following a short illness. He had been ordained as a priest in 1954 at the Pallottine College in Thurles and later served in Tanzania and London. In January 1990, he was dismissed from the Pallottine Fathers. He no longer had permission to say Mass or administer the sacraments. Becoming known as 'The Padre', he spent decades denying accusations, claiming he had raised money both inside and outside Europe for victims on the nationalist side in the Troubles but had 'never bought explosives for the IRA or anybody else' and had never been requested by the paramilitary group to do so. But the priest had allegedly become the main contact for many years between the IRA and one of its main sources of weaponry and finance — Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime. His meetings with Gaddafi were documented in journalist Jennifer O'Leary's book The Padre: The True Story of the Irish Priest Who Armed the IRA with Gaddafi's Money. Ryan was also the first priest to contest an election in Ireland, when he ran in the 1989 European Parliament election in the Munster constituency as an Independent with Sinn Fein support. He failed to be elected but received more than 30,000 votes. But it was his alleged role in supplying arms for the IRA that brought him under most scrutiny and caused a political storm between the UK, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland. He had been arrested in Belgium in 1988. Following the killing of three off-duty British servicemen in the Netherlands, a tip-off led Belgian police to an IRA sympathiser's home and to Ryan's arrest. He was believed to be the quartermaster of an active IRA unit in Belgium, a crucial logistical figure. Bomb-making equipment, manuals and a large sum of foreign currency were seized. Repatriated to Ireland, after going on hunger strike as the UK sought to bring him to trial, the country then refused to extradite him to the UK believing he would not receive a fair trial. Patrick Ryan being interviewed on Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History in 2019 (BBC) News in 90 seconds - 16th June 2025 Mrs Thatcher once described the cleric as having an 'expert knowledge of bombing' and, in 2019, in an interview for BBC's Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History, he was asked if he was involved in any of the incidents of which Mrs Thatcher had accused him, to which he responded: 'I would say most of them. One way or another, yes, I had a hand in most of them. Yes, she was right.' Asked if the PM was right to connect him to events such as the Brighton bomb, he replied: 'One hundred per cent.' Five people died when, on October 12, 1984, an IRA bomb exploded inside the Grand Hotel, where Margaret Thatcher's ruling Conservative Party was holding its annual conference. As the programme explored his key role in IRA arms shipments from Libya, he went on to take credit for introducing the organisation to a type of timer unit it used to set off bombs which he had discovered while in Switzerland. Asked if he had any regrets, Mr Ryan said: 'I regret that I wasn't even more effective, absolutely. I would have liked to have been much more effective, but we didn't do too badly.'
Business Wire
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
North American Construction Market Forecasts Steady Growth Through 2028 Despite Power and Workforce Constraints, Says Linesight
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global construction consultant Linesight has released its latest Construction Market Insights report, revealing that the North American construction industry continues to gain momentum, fueled by mission-critical sectors, despite the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs and global trade. Despite global trade uncertainty and the ongoing impacts of US tariffs, the industry is anticipating steady growth. In 2024, the US construction industry grew by 4.5%, exceeding the initial projection of 2.5%, driven by investments in semiconductors, clean energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. While growth is expected to be moderate over the next several years, demand from AI-driven data centers and high-tech industrial manufacturing will continue to support expansion. Following a 1.8% contraction in 2024 due to residential slowdowns and high financing costs, Canada's construction industry is poised for recovery. From 2025 to 2028, it anticipates a healthy 2.8% annual growth, fueled by significant investments in transportation, renewable energy, and essential water infrastructure projects. While 2025 sees a modest GDP growth revision to 1.4%, influenced by US tariffs, a broader economic rebound is expected by mid-2026. 'The next phase of growth for North American construction will be shaped by how well the industry addresses persistent infrastructure and supply chain vulnerabilities,' commented Patrick Ryan, Executive Vice President for the Americas at Linesight. 'Tariffs are causing volatility in the supply chain, which is impacting procurement strategies, worsening lead times and increasing cost pressures. Clients should prioritize risk management, localize supply chains where possible, and explore tariff-exempt sourcing alternatives to build greater resilience into their projects.' Power infrastructure now a top priority Linesight's latest report underscores the growing urgency of addressing power infrastructure issues, as mission-critical sectors such as data centers, electric transport, and advanced manufacturing drive unprecedented demand for reliable electricity. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects electricity demand to rise by 35–50% between 2024 and 2040, placing increasing strain on North America's aging grid systems. Utility companies are responding, with capital expenditures across 47 major US energy utilities companies projected to surpass US$212 billion in 2025, a 22% increase over 2024, according to S&P Global. To mitigate energy supply constraints, high-reliability sectors are turning to solutions such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Small Modular Fuel Reactors (SMRs), and hydrogen-powered systems to improve operational efficiency and reduce emissions. Labor shortages and supply chain volatility persist The report highlights that while supply chains for long-lead equipment (LLE) across North America began stabilizing in late 2024, volatility remains a concern heading into 2025, particularly for large electrical equipment such as transformers, where lead times will likely increase in the near term. North American labor shortages continue to challenge project delivery, with high-demand markets like Ohio, Utah, and Louisiana struggling to secure qualified contractors and skilled tradespeople. Sector snapshots Data Centers: The US is on track to become the fastest-growing global data center market, with capacity expected to increase from 25 GW in 2024 to over 80 GW by 2030. Demand from AI workloads is reshaping procurement strategies and accelerating investment in power and cooling solutions. Leading the Canadian market, Ontario and Alberta have become key hubs for data center growth. Life Sciences: The US dominates the global life sciences sector, holding nearly 70% of 2024's total venture capital deal value. This leadership is driven by evolving investment, focusing on larger, strategic deals and established players in oncology, cardiology, immunology, and neuroscience. While lab construction will slow, manufacturing activity is rising, with higher investment in advanced facilities and continuous manufacturing systems. In contrast, the Canadian life sciences sector has seen a notable decline since 2023, largely due to funding pressures. High-tech Industrial: Semiconductor and battery manufacturing are fueling North American high-tech industrial construction growth, spurred by the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) projects a 203% growth in US chip manufacturing capacity by 2032, the largest increase globally. Battery manufacturing, now 69% of all new US clean tech manufacturing projects, has surged despite some recent project delays. However, uncertainty surrounding future incentive guidelines poses a risk to continued expansion. In Canada, federal funding has supported the battery sector, but some projects face delays as EV demand dips. Commercial: The US commercial sector has experienced moderate but stable growth. Investments in green and high-quality office retrofits are rising, driven by stricter energy efficiency mandates taking effect in many US and Canadian cities, prompting landlords to upgrade buildings. While new office developments have slowed, sustainability, tech advancements, and financing adaptations will shape the sector. Project costs face impact from skilled labor shortages and steel and aluminum tariffs. Read the full Constructions Market Insights Americas report now. Linesight is a multinational consultancy firm with over 50 years' experience, providing cost, schedule, program, and project management services to multiple sectors including Life Sciences, Commercial, Data Centers, High-Tech Industrial, Residential, Hospitality, Healthcare, and Retail. Linesight's specialist project teams, each with specific skills and experience, provide faster project delivery, greater cost efficiency, and maximum value for money for their clients. For further information, please visit
