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During the mid-1990s, law enforcement raided a British apartment and detained Michael Gallagher accused of IRA operations. His partner, an university lecturer focused in scientific research, was astonished and indignant.

Attenborough was skeptical that her intellectual partner – a ex-government worker who assisted those in need – was participating with the IRA. Gallagher had even won over her by finishing a cryptic crossword in merely a few moments.

Court Case

The accused was indicted with plotting to help the IRA carry out bombings at Heathrow Airport in 1994. While these attacks caused no injuries or deaths, they caused significant security concerns.

She gathered funds and campaign assistance to proclaim her boyfriend's innocence. Despite her campaign, he was convicted of plotting bomb attacks and was given a lengthy prison sentence.

“Other than a few of individuals, I barely share with anybody,” she commented. “It wasn’t something I was particularly pleased with because he had deceived me.”

Revealing the Truth

Today, nearly many years following the events, the pair remain a couple and have written together a publication that confirms Gallagher was, in fact, guilty.

Gallagher had been involved with republican activities who helped several actions, such as the airport incident. Gallagher concealed the reality from his partner and just admitted following his guilty verdict, making her devastated.

Life After Prison

After Gallagher's freedom under the terms of the Northern Ireland settlement, the partners moved to the Irish countryside and established a digital company, which they continue to run.

The publication, named Unbroken: Deception, Truth and Lasting Love, switches narratives between the pair and delays the admission of Gallagher's involvement until after his trial.

I believe Michael isn’t a bad person, he is a truly decent individual,” Attenborough remarked. “He simply didn’t put me first, and I don’t know whether I see that as treachery. He had no malicious intent.”

Past and Partnership

They first encountered each other in the mid-1980s through groups that aided labor activists and protested against South Africa’s apartheid.

Attenborough, hailing from Walsall, held a advanced degree in academic research. He, of Scottish origin, was an hopeful author and someone overcoming addiction.

He had family connections to Northern Ireland and performed occasional jobs for the IRA, handling lodging, transport and identification for activists in England.

Uncovering the Lies

Gallagher kept secret his activities from Attenborough, who favored a united Ireland but disapproved of violent tactics.

“I’d made a pledge to the organization and a commitment to Attenborough and I assumed I was getting away with it – I could to handle each,” Gallagher commented.

Law enforcement identified him as a suspect who had been to a storage facility with evidence of explosives. They watched his movements and eavesdropped on the residence for almost two years, ending in the surprise arrest at their London residence on 28 October 1996.

Aftermath and Reflection

During many months – including her prison visits and the legal proceedings in the late 1990s – Gallagher held onto his secret.

“There was no way I could tell her because if she knew back then, she would have been obliged to notify her brother: ‘Stop looking for sureties for Michael because he admitted it,’” he said. “It was truly an awful period.”

The hope of being found not guilty maintained his fiction until the tribunal found him guilty. Soon afterward, when she met with him to talk about further court actions, he revealed his involvement.

“At first, I could not decide if to trust his words,” Attenborough remembered. “I considered, well, whose story of the truth was correct?”

Emotionally shaken, she contemplated terminating the connection, but in later meetings she accepted his explanations and understood his hidden involvement.

“Obviously I disapproved with his participation with the organization. Yet, it was not a leading position that he was playing.”

Last Disclosures

During the authorship of their memoir, he revealed one more long-hidden truth to his companion: when he speedily completed the word game in her copy of a newspaper, he had previously done it in a different version.