A former leader of The Workers’ Party, Mac Giolla says, "I joined the IRA at the end of ‘51 or early ‘52. I never resigned from the IRA. So, I regard myself as still being a member of the IRA!" He also admits that he was on the IRA Army Council from "When Cathal Goulding came in”.

Regarding the bomb blast at the 16th Parachute Brigade headquarters in Aldershot in 1972 that killed five civilian waitresses, Mac Giolla says, "I was furious. We were the Workers’ Party and we blow up the workers."

When asked about The Workers’ Party no longer being a political force he says, "I’m a bit pissed off. The people that voted for us are still not voting for anybody else. In fact, we had a new class to describe (our voters): the underclass. The underclass were never heard of until we came into force. Not the working class – but the underclass."

On former Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte he says, "I’d written Rabbitte off a long time ago. Rabbitte, I can’t stand. Rabbitte nearly destroyed the Labour Party. I never want anything to do with him or anybody associated with him.”

He is also highly critical of Proinsias de Rossa and Eamon Gilmore – both former colleagues of his in The Worker's Party and now leading lights in Labour.

With Sean Garland’s extradition sought over the so-called Super Dollar, which the Workers’ Party were allegedly forging with the North Koreans, Mac Giolla tells Hot Press, “I think they are making this up because of our links with North Korea and the fact that Republicans printed fake fivers. Sean – a 75 year old man – was refused bail and put in prison with junkies. The gang down here crawled around on their hands and knees to be good to the CIA! No CIA man ever appeared in the court! The fucking CIA, who every day of the week are murdering people!”

He's equally disdainful about Senator Eoghan Harris. "He can’t be practical about anything he writes. This week might have no connection whatsoever with what he wrote last week. He’s ruined as an intellectual".

Nor is Mac Giolla a big fan of footballer Roy Keane: "Keane refused to play for his country – he was a fucking disaster."

The full, fascinating interview with Tom?s MacGiolla is in the current issue of Hot Press.