VARIOUS: YOKO ONO WIDOW OF JOHN LENNON DENIES REPORTS THAT LENNON HELPED FUND THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY, IRA

Record ID: 978938

  • Title: VARIOUS: YOKO ONO WIDOW OF JOHN LENNON DENIES REPORTS THAT LENNON HELPED FUND THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY, IRA
  • Date: 21st February 2000
  • Summary: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (FILE - MARCH 27, 1969) (REUTERS/LIBRARY) 1. WIDE: LATE BEATLES SINGER JOHN LENNON WITH HIS WIFE YOKO ONO IN BED DURING THE LYING-IN-BED' PROTEST FOR PEACE AT AMSTERDAM HILTON HOTEL 0.05 2. SV: LENNON, YOKO AND POSTERS FOR PEACE (3 SHOTS) 0.26 ZARAGOZA, SPAIN (FEBRUARY 21, 2000) (TVE - NO ACCESS SPAIN) 3. WIDE: YOKO ONO AT NEWS CONFERENCE 0.31 4. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English with Spanish translation) LATE JOHN LENNON'S WIFE, YOKO ONO SAYING: "John Lennon did not give money to IRA. But we quite often gave money to difference countries." 0.46 RISHIKESH, INDIA (FILE - 1968) (REUTERS) 5. TRACK: JOHN LENNON WITH BLANKET WALKING 0.52 6. TRACK: BEATLES BAND MEMBER GEORGE HARRISON WALKING PAST 0.55 7. SLV: HOSPITAL SIGN 0.59 8. SV: BEATLES BAND MEMBER PAUL McCARTNEY WITH CAMERA 1.04 ZARAGOZA, SPAIN (FEBRUARY 21, 2000) (TVE - NO ACCESS SPAIN) 9. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English with Spanish translation) YOKO ONO SAYING: "Because there was an article written about it a very negative book once so I decided that nowadays I give money to Ireland I make sure I specify in writing the money has to be used for helping the children in Ireland" 1.47 LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - 1964) (REUTERS) 10. SLV: BEATLES BAND MEMBERS ARRIVING IN CAR 1.54 11. PAN: FANS; GIRL FAINTS AND CARRIED AWAY (2 SHOTS) 2.02 12. SV: JOHN LENNON AND OTHER BEATLES BAND MEMBERS WALK INTO BUILDING 2.14 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2000 12:00
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  • Location: ZARAGOZA, SPAIN AND VARIOUS FILE
  • Country: Spain
  • Reuters ID: LVA7OQH50M0R5BWTE53O17UC06NB
  • Story Text:Yoko Ono, widow of former Beatle John Lennon, has
    denied a British press report that her husband, famed for a
    naked-in-bed demonstration for peace, may have helped fund the
    Irish Republican Army (IRA).

    The late John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono donated
    money to various countries in his life time in an effort to
    promote world peace.

    In 1969, they staged a 'naked-in-bed' vigil for peace and
    love at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

    Lennon was also known to support the aims of the Irish
    Republican Army (IRA) to end British rule in Northern Ireland
    for which the paramilitary organisation has fought a 30-year
    armed campaign.

    The British weekly newspaper The Observer said on Sunday
    it had seen a court statement by a former spy saying he was
    shown secret files that included references to Lennon giving
    money to the IRA in the early 1970s.

    The paper said the statement by the spy, David Shayler,
    claimed a British intelligence source within the WRP said the
    late pop star had contributed tens of thousands of pounds
    (dollars) to the WRP as well as funding the IRA.

    Yoko Ono responded to the claim during a news conference
    in the Spanish town of Zaragoza, on Monday, (February 21)
    where she launched an exhibition of her art work.

    "John Lennon did not give money to IRA.But we quite often
    gave money to different countries," Yoko Ono said.

    Lennon was relatively serious about peace and spiritual
    enhancement.In 1957 he travelled to India with other members
    of the Beatles band to attend a course in transcendental
    meditation under the guidance of their spiritual adviser
    Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

    And Yoko Ono said she was serious about where the
    donations ended up and that she now makes sure it falls in the
    right hands.

    "Because there was an article written about it in a very
    negative book once so I decided that nowadays I give money to
    Ireland I make sure I specify in writing the money has to be
    used for helping the children in Ireland".

    The paper said the statement by the spy, David
    Shayler, claimed a British intelligence source within the WRP
    said the late pop star had contributed tens of thousands of
    pounds (dollars) to the WRP as well as funding the IRA.

    Lennon, shot dead by a deranged fan in New York in 1980,
    once held up a sign saying "Victory for the IRA against
    British imperialism" at a London rally against internment
    without trial.

    Shayler's claims came amid a court battle in the United
    States over confidential letters about Lennon from an
    unidentified foreign government, believed to be Britain.

    A U.S.federal judge has ruled that three letters should
    be turned over to Jon Wiener, a history professor at the
    University of California who is trying to obtain 10 classified
    documents on Lennon.The documents remain in a file on Lennon
    held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

    The professor told the BBC that while Lennon was
    sympathetic to the Irish civil rights movement, the British
    intelligence service could have been misinformed about any
    links he had with the IRA.
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