The Intelligence War against the IRA

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The Intelligence War against the IRA Page 45

by Thomas Leahy


  171. Harnden, ‘Bandit Country’, pp. 345–6.

  172. Wilson and Adams, Metropolitan Police Special Branch, pp. 387–9.

  173. Harnden, ‘Bandit Country’, pp. 5–10.

  174. Bew and Gillespie, Chronology, pp. 330–3.

  175. Interview with Laurence McKeown, Belfast, 16 May 2011.

  176. LHL NIPC, PH1621, Towards a Lasting Peace: Address by Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle member Martin McGuinness, 25 February 1995, pp. 2–4.

  177. Adams, Hope and History, pp. 300–1.

  178. Moloney, Secret History, pp. 440–507.

  179. Powell, Great Hatred, p. 85.

  180. Taylor, Brits, p. 348.

  181. Taylor, Provos, p. 349.

  182. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 80–6; see a similar argument by former Irish prime ministers in Reynolds, Autobiography, pp. 362, 483–95, 506; and Bertie Ahern with Richard Aldous, The Autobiography (London: Arrow Books, 2009), pp. 176–9.

  183. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 80–6.

  184. Frampton, Long March, pp. 98–107.

  185. Cf. Moloney, Secret History, pp. 393–405, 428, 516–20; see a similar argument in Rogelio Alonso, The IRA and Armed Struggle (Oxford: Routledge, 2007), pp. 3–9, 66–9, 124–6, 130–4, 158–9.

  186. Hughes with Moloney, Voices, pp. 262–93.

  187. Bradley with Feeney, Insider, pp. 7–16, 188–9, 192–9, 221–2.

  188. McKearney, Provisional IRA, pp. 154–160; see also McIntyre, Good Friday, pp. 61–78, 121–53, 177–93, 293–310.

  189. Ian McBride, ‘Provisional Truths: IRA Memoirs and the Peace Process’ (unpublished paper, 2015), pp. 9–10.

  190. McKearney, Provisional IRA, pp. 145–71, 207–14; see also Laurence McKeown, Out of Time: Irish Republican Prisoners Long Kesh 1972–2000 (Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications, 2001), pp. 132–4, 147, 160–1.

  191. Bradley with Feeney, Insider.

  192. McIntyre, Good Friday.

  193. Interview with Laurence McKeown, Belfast, 16 May 2011.

  194. Interview with Michael Culbert, Belfast, 22 May 2012.

  195. Interview with Féilim Ó hAdhmaill, Cork, 9 September 2013.

  196. For further examples of republicans supporting the peace process see Eamon McGuire, Enemy of the Empire: Life as an International Undercover IRA Activist (Dublin: O’Brien Press, 2006), pp. 300–2; and McKeown, Out of Time, pp. 202–15, 227, 234.

  197. Alonso, The IRA, pp. 145–6; Moloney, Secret History, p. 418.

  198. For an example see LHL NIPC, P3529, Gerry Adams speech to internal Sinn Féin conference entitled ‘A Bus Ride to Independence and Socialism’, pp. 13–18.

  199. McKearney, Provisional IRA, p. 159; for other accounts discussing why grass-roots IRA and loyalist paramilitaries agreed to peace see also James McAuley, Peter Shirlow and Jonathan Tonge, ‘So Why Did the Guns Fall Silent? How Interplay, Not Stalemate, Explains the Northern Ireland Peace Process’, Irish Political Studies 26.1 (2011), 1–18.

  200. Taylor, Provos, pp. 355, 370–1.

  201. Powell, Great Hatred, p. 314.

  202. Moloney, Secret History, p. 580 (italics mine).

  203. McIntyre, ‘Two Masters’, Irish News, 17 December 2005.

  204. McKearney, Provisional IRA, p. 142.

  205. Interview with Tommy McKearney, Monaghan, 18 April 2011 (italics mine).

  206. Moloney, Secret History, p. 580.

  207. ‘Prison Walls Cannot Conquer the Republican Spirit’, An Phoblacht, 29 October 1972, p. 5.

  208. ‘Denis Donaldson’, The Guardian, 6 April 2006; ‘Denis Donaldson’, The Telegraph, 6 April 2006; David McKittrick, ‘The Spy’s Tale’, The Independent, 6 April 2006.

  209. McIntyre, ‘Two Masters’, Irish News, 17 December 2005; for further details on Donaldson’s alleged activities abroad for Sinn Féin see David McKittrick, ‘The Spy’s Tale’, The Independent, 6 April 2006; and Moloney, Secret History, pp. 581–2.

  210. ‘Donaldson Admits Role as British Agent’, An Phoblacht, 5 January 2005, p. 3.

  211. Bradley with Feeney, Insider, pp. 7–9; see also Stephen Hopkins, ‘The “Informer” and the Political and Organisational Culture of the Irish Republican Movement’, Irish Studies Review, 25.1 (2017).

  212. See Lambert in Taylor, Provos, pp. 291–7.

  213. ‘Sinn Féin Member Admits He Was Informer’, An Phoblacht, 8 October 1998, p. 3.

  214. ‘Informer Comes Forward’, An Phoblacht, 19 August 1999.

  215. Andrew, Defence of the Realm, p. 738.

  216. Interview with Danny Morrison, Belfast, 22 May 2012; see also Brian Rowan, ‘Spy Killing, a Dirty War, and Denis Donaldson’s Death’, 24 April 2012: http://eamonnmallie.com/2012/04/spy-killing-a-dirty-war-and-denis-donaldsons-death-by-brian-rowan/.

  217. Harnden, ‘Bandit Country’, pp. 410–11, 429–36; Moloney, Secret History, p. 439; O’Brien, Long War, p. 277.

  218. Taylor, Provos, p. 294.

  219. See a further example in TNA, CJ 4/4815, A. R. Brown letter to Mr Davies, 8 December 1983.

  220. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 162–63, 176–77.

  221. Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, pp. 13–14.

  222. McKearney, Provisional IRA, pp. 143, 159.

  223. Tommy McKearney, ‘Martin McGuinness: The Man and the Contradiction’, Morning Star, 25 March 2017: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-f643-martin-mcguinness-the-man-and-the-contradiction-1.

  224. Interview with Danny Morrison, Belfast, 22 May 2012.

  225. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 162–3, 305.

  226. Interview with former British civil servant, 25 March 2014 (italics mine).

  227. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 147–8.

  228. ‘The Spy’s Tale’, The Independent, 6 April 2006; see also Rowan, ‘Spy Killing’, 24 April 2012.

  229. Aldrich, GCHQ, pp. 499–501.

  230. Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, pp. 6–13.

  231. See similar points in English, Does Terrorism Work?, pp. 121–46.

  232. English, Armed Struggle, pp. 306–15.

  233. O’Brien, Long War, pp. 195–9, 318–24.

  234. McKearney, Provisional IRA, p. 159.

  235. Interview with veteran Troubles commentator, 19 April 2011.

  Conclusion

  1. For Scappaticci’s denial that he was Stakeknife see ‘Stakeknife: Ex-IRA and MI5 Members Could Be Prosecuted’, BBC News Online, 18 December 2018: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46598765.

  2. ‘Collusion Debate’, BBC News Online, 15 June 2015: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-33140147.

  3. McKearney, Provisional IRA, p. 142.

  4. Interview with republican activist 1, 21 May 2012.

  5. Bradley with Feeney, Insider, pp. 161–5, 209–25, 237–9; Mulholland, ‘Politics and Violence’, pp. 409–12.

  6. Ó Dochartaigh, Civil Rights to Armalites, pp. 255–63.

  7. O’Brien, Long War, p. 297; Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, pp. 8–13.

  8. English, Does Terrorism Work?, pp. 121–46.

  9. Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, pp. 2–13, 16–17.

  10. English, Does Terrorism Work?, pp. 121–2.

  11. LHL NIPC, PH861, Gerry Adams interview with Living Marxism, January 1989, p. 37.

  12. Matchett, Secret Victory, p. 192; Mulholland, ‘Politics and Violence’, pp. 409–12.

  13. Ó Dochartaigh, Civil Rights to Armalites, pp. 1–6.

  14. Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence, pp. 6, 9, 12, 40–8, 362, 390–2.

  15. Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, pp. 13–14.

  16. Nelson Inquiry Report, p. 463: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/247461/0947.pdf.

  17. Zegart, Spying Blind, pp. 169–89, 196–7.

  18. See Aldrich and Cormac, The Black Door, pp. 259–435.

  19. Foley, Countering Terrorism in Britain and France, pp. 59–61.

  20. Foley, Countering
Terrorism in Britain and France, pp. 2–11, 17–21, 59, 188, 317; Omand, Securing the State, pp. 90–3, 260–9.

  21. See a similar view in Urban, Big Boys’ Rules, pp. 238–47.

  22. Henry McDonald, ‘Man Believed to Have Been IRA Double Agent “Stakeknife” Released on Bail’, The Guardian, 2 February 2018: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/02/stakeknife-freddie-scappaticci-ira-double-agent-released-bail.

  23. The Patrick Finucane Review: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246867/0802.pdf.

  24. Grey, The Modern Spymaster, pp. 278–99; Hewitt, Snitch!, pp. 1–20, 121–50.

  25. Hewitt, Snitch!, p. 148.

  26. For example, see ‘I Want to Come Home – Raymond Gilmour Tells “Journal”’, Derry Journal, 2 February 2007: www.derryjournal.com/news/i-want-to-come-home-raymond-gilmour-tells-journal-1-2109605; ‘IRA “Supergrass” Wants to Return’, BBC News Online, 2 February 2007: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6325241.stm.

  27. Interview with Tommy McKearney, Monaghan, 23 May 2012. Other republicans interviewed gave a similar response to this question.

  28. Cf. Bew et al., Talking to Terrorists, pp. 248–59; Jonathan Powell, Talking to Terrorists: How to End Armed Conflicts (London: The Bodley Head, 2014), pp. 23–4.

  29. Cf. Bew et al., Talking to Terrorists, pp. 40–2, 252–5.

  30. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 25–6.

  31. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 13, 25–6, 32–40, 94, 114–25, 167, 201–14, 252–6, 278.

  32. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 24–5, 75, 104, 172–81, 201–14, 252–6, 312, 347–9, 363.

  33. Mumford, ‘Covert Peacemaking’, 642–3.

  34. A further example of the length of time needed for private talks between paramilitaries and democratic governments before peace can emerge can be seen in Colombia. The left-wing armed group FARC in Colombia and the Colombian government began peace talks in 1998. There were various interruptions to this process before the signing of a peace agreement in 2016. See ‘Colombia Profile – Timeline’, BBC News Online, 6 April 2017: www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19390164.

  35. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 2, 30–2, 78, 94–102, 178–81, 201–26, 252–55, 272–78, 347–63.

  36. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 252–5.

  37. Colombia would be an exception here as the FARC lacked a political mandate before and during peace talks. But the peace deal demonstrates their willingness to engage in political activity.

  38. Bew et al., Talking to Terrorists, pp. 49–62, 242–3.

  39. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 261–2.

  40. Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 309–22; Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 194, 210, 231–2, 291.

  41. Taylor, Provos, pp. 187–8.

  42. Ó Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, 4–7.

  43. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 94, 101–4, 214, 226, 252–6.

  44. Mumford, ‘Covert Peacemaking’, pp. 642–43.

  45. O Dochartaigh, ‘The Longest Negotiation’, p. 10.

  46. Powell, Talking to Terrorists, pp. 94, 101–4, 172–81, 214–26, 252–6; Powell, Great Hatred, pp. 309–22.

  47. ‘Families Demand Justice over IRA Victims “Executed” as Informers’, The Guardian, 1 June 2015: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/01/families-justice-ira-victims-executed-as-informers-british-army-agent-stakeknife; John Ware, ‘How, and Why, Did Scappaticci Survive the IRA’s wrath’, Irish Times, 15 April 2017, p. 6.

  48. For example, see ‘15-Year-Old Bernard Teggert Was Not an Informer’, An Phoblacht, 6 August 2009: www.anphoblacht.com/contents/20457.

  49. For example, see ‘IRA Mole Martin McGartland to Have Case against MI5 Heard in Secret’, The Guardian, 8 July 2014: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/08/ira-informer-martin-mcgartland-secret-hearing-mi5.

  50. Interview with Tommy McKearney, Monaghan, 23 May 2012.

  Bibliography

  Primary Sources

  Unpublished Sources

  Bodleian Library Special Collections Oxford University (BLOU), Oxford

  Harold Wilson Papers: MS Wilson C.845/23/2, 908/23/2, 1037/23/2 and 1193/23/2

  Imperial War Museum, Sound Archive (IWMSA), London

  28361, reel 31, Thompson, Julian, recorded 11 November 2005

  13583, Webster, Bryan Courtney, recorded 29 November 1993

  Interviews (Names of Interviewees and Locations of Interview Remain Anonymous Unless Stated)

  Culbert, Michael, Belfast, 22 May 2012

  Former British civil servant, 25 March 2014

  Former British soldier 1, 26 May 2011

  Former British soldier 1, 26 June 2012

  McKearney, Tommy, Monaghan, 18 April 2011

  McKearney, Tommy, Monaghan, 23 May 2012

  McKeown, Laurence, Belfast, 16 May 2011

  McKeown, Laurence, Belfast, 22 May 2012

  McKeown, Laurence, Belfast, 4 February 2014

  Morrison, Danny, Belfast, 18 May 2011

  Morrison, Danny, Belfast, 22 May 2012

  Morrison, Danny, Belfast, 20 January 2014

  Ó hAdhmaill, Féilim, Cork, 9 September 2013

  Republican activist 1, 21 May 2012

  Veteran Troubles commentator, 19 April 2011

  Veteran Troubles commentator, 22 May 2012

  Walsh, Séanna, Belfast, 21 May 2012

  Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, Kings College London (LHCMA)

  GB0099 Endgame in Ireland: Interviews by Brook Lapping Productions for a four-hour TV history documentary. (First shown on BBC Two in June–July 2001. Numbers refer to country of the interviewee/order of broadcast. 1 = UK; 2 = Northern Ireland; 3 = Republic of Ireland.)

  1/3 Peter Brooke, 1/6 Kenneth Clarke, 1/14 Lord Powell of Bayswater, 2/2Gerry Adams, 2/4 Denis Bradley, 2/6 Pat Doherty, 2/14 John Hume, 2/15 Gerry Kelly, 2/19 Seamus Mallon, 2/21 Martin McGuinness, 2/23 Mitchel McLaughlin, 3/15 Francie Mackie, 3/19 Father Alec Reid

  Linen Hall Library Northern Ireland Political Collection (LHL NIPC), Belfast

  P1659A, 2890, 3504, 3529

  PH58, 365, 861, 905, 913, 1364, 1621

  PP3394

  PPA1073

  London School of Economics Library Archives, London

  Merlyn-Rees: 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 5/1, 12/1, 12/6, 12/10, 12/19, 12/21, 12/23 12/25, 12/27, 12/28 and 12/31

  Miscellaneous

  Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, remarks by Sinn Féin spokesmen which indicate that destabilisation of the South is a Sinn Féin/IRA objective, dating from 1979 to 1986: copies with author

  National Archives of the United Kingdom (TNA), Kew, London

  Cabinet Office: CAB 128/49, 128/54, 129/207, 129/208, 129/213, 129/215, 129/217, 130/560, 130/1125, 134/3778, 134/3921, 134/4040 and 134/4238

  Foreign and Commonwealth Office: FCO 87/1, 87/2, 87/3, 87/4, 87/5, 87/114, 87/178, 87/221, 87/285, 87/288, 87/341, 87/342, 87/460, 87/461, 87/484, 87/513, 87/536, 87/682, 87/976, 87/1379 and 87/1582

  Ministry of Defence: DEFE 11/917, 13/914 and 24/837

  Prime Minister’s Office: PREM 10/1007, 15/1004, 15/1009, 15/1010, 15/1022, 15/1689, 15/2013, 16/146, 16/151, 16/153, 16/515, 16/521, 16/958, 16/960, 16/1337, 16/1342, 16/1343 and 16/1344

  UK Representative, Home Office and Northern Ireland Office: CJ 3/98, 4/136, 4/319, 4/644, 4/650, 4/833, 4/860, 4/861, 4/864, 4/1351, 4/1427, 4/1456, 4/1567, 4/1780, 4/2853, 4/2928, 4/3060, 4/3445, 4/3474, 4/3784, 4/3967, 4/4542, 4/4544, 4/4797, 4/4815, 4/4868, 4/4898, 4/4933, 4/5144, 4/5387, 4/5501, 4/5511 and 4/5513

  National Library of Ireland (NLI), Dublin

  Sean O’Mahony Papers, Dáithí Ó Conaill section: MS 44/160/3, 44/160/5, 44/165/6, 44/166/5 and 44/167/2

  National University of Ireland Galway Archives (NUIG), Galway

  Brendan Duddy Papers: Pol 35/20, 35/63, 35/68, 35/69, 25/79, 35/82, 35/96, 35/102, 35/103, 35/132, 35/134, 35/213, 35/225, 35/226, 35/227, 35/234, 35/242, 35/245, 35/253, 35/258, 35/261, 35/264, 3
5/266, 35/272, 35/276, 35/280, 35/287, 35/296, 35/306, 35/309, 35/311, 35/312, 35/315, 35/318, 35/319, 35/320, 35/347, 35/353, 35/362, 35/363, 35/366, 35/369 and 35/428

 

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