by Ed Moloney
2. Speech by Tony Blair, British prime minister, in Belfast, Oct. 17, 2002.
3. Speech by Tony Blair, British prime minister, in London, March 21, 2006.
4. Notes of conversation with U.S. Department of State official, Oct. 2004.
5. Confidential information, Dec. 2000.
6. Northern Ireland Office, The Belfast Agreement, Chapter 7, April 10, 1998.
7. Dean Godson, Himself Alone—David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism (London: HarperCollins, 2004), 347.
8. Northern Ireland Office, The Way Forward, July 2, 1999.
9. Notes of conversation with Department of Foreign Affairs official, Nov. 1998.
10. Notes of conversations with republican dissidents, summer 2000.
11. Channel Four, The Big Heist, Sept. 22, 2005.
12. Godson, Himself Alone—David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, 686.
13. Ibid.
14. Confidential information.
15. Daily Telegraph, Oct. 10, 2002. Confirmed by security force source, Nov. 2005.
16. Confidential information.
17. Irish Times, Jan. 23, 2006.
18. House International Relations Committee, International Global Terrorism: its links with illicit drugs as illustrated by the IRA and other groups in Colombia. Hearing on April 24, 2002.
19. Ibid.
20. Confidential information.
21. Daily Telegraph, May 15, 2002.
22. Sunday Herald, Aug. 29, 1999.
23. Irish Times, Jan. 9, 1999.
24. Ibid.
25. Sunday Tribune, Jan. 31, 1999.
26. Notes of conversation with Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official, March 1999.
27. Michael Benson, Failed Entity, The Blanket,
28. Sunday Tribune, Jan. 17, 1999.
29. Godson, Himself Alone—David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, 592.
30. Ibid., 586.
31. Ibid., 556.
32. Interview with former republican activist, autumn 2006.
33. Interview with senior Irish political source, Sept. 2006.
34. Godson, Himself Alone—David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, 556.
35. Interview with General John de Chastelain, Sept. 2006.
36. Millward Brown Ulster, The Good Friday Agreement—Latest Public Opinion, Oct. 25/26, 2000.
37. Irish Times, March 25, 2002.
38. Interview with security source, Nov. 2005.
39. BBC NI webpage, Jan. 13, 2003.
40. Interview with security source, Nov. 2005.
41. Interview with Irish political source, Sept. 2006.
42. Irish Times, Oct. 2, 2003.
43. Interview with General de Chastelain, Sept. 2006.
44. Irish Times, Oct. 21, 2003.
Twenty: The Last Kalashnikov
1. Chris Ward was charged in connection with the robbery in December 2005. At the time of writing his trial has not been held.
2. Richard O’Rawe, Blanketmen—An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike (Dublin: New Island, 2005), 236.
3. Irish Independent, June 10, 1999.
4. Conversation with DUP figure, Aug. 2005.
5. Fourth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, Feb. 10, 2005.
6. RTE radio, This Week, Jan. 9, 2005.
7. Irish Times, Feb. 21, 2005.
8. IRA statement, Feb. 3, 2005.
9. Channel 4 Television, The Big Heist, Sept. 22, 2005.
10. Interview with Irish security source, Sept. 2006.
11. Interview with Northern Bank spokesman, Oct. 18, 2006.
12. Confidential information.
13. Fifth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, May 24, 2005.
14. Interview with Irish political source, Sept. 2006.
15. Confidential information.
16. Irish Times, Feb. 12, 2005.
17. Irish Times, Jan. 11, 2005.
18. BBC NI webpage, Jan. 16, 2005.
19. Daily Telegraph, July 5, 2006.
20. Irish Times, July 4, 2005.
21. Ibid.
22. Confidential information.
23. Ibid.
24. Irish Times, Feb. 15, 2005.
25. Anthony McIntyre, Burdens Unbearable, The Blanket,
26. Irish Times, July 4, 2005.
27. Interview with Catherine McCartney, Sept. 2005.
28. Irish Times, July 4, 2005.
29. Interview with Catherine McCartney, Sept. 2005.
30. Irish Times, March 17, 2005.
31. Irish Times, March 16, 2005.
32. BBC NI webpage, March 14, 2005.
33. Irish Times, March 18, 2005.
34. Interview with U.S. Department of State official, Nov. 2006.
35. Sunday Telegraph, March 20, 2005.
36. Irish Times, March 18, 2005.
37. Interview with Catherine McCartney, Sept. 2005.
38. Council on Foreign Relations,
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Irish Times, April 7, 2005.
42. Irish Times, Oct. 1, 2005.
43. Irish Times, Oct. 16, 2006.
44. Irish Times, Sept. 27, 2005.
45. Irish Times, Oct. 1, 2005.
46. Interview with security source, Nov. 2005.
47. Irish Times, Sept. 27, 2005.
48. Irish News, Oct. 14, 2005.
49. Irish Times, Oct. 8, 2004.
50. Guardian, Feb. 22, 2005.
51. Sunday Independent, Feb. 27, 2005.
52. Irish Times, March 4, 2005.
53. Irish Times, May 19, 2006.
54. BBC News website,
55. Sunday Times, Oct. 2, 2005.
56. Sunday Times, May 7, 2006.
57. O’Rawe, Blanketmen.
58. The Blanket website,
59. O’Rawe, Blanketmen, 257.
60. The Blanketmen website,
61. Irish News, March 12, 2005.
62. Daily Ireland, June 7, 2006.
63. Hunger Strike, DoubleBand Films, RTE, May 9, 2006.
64. Democratic Dialogue, April 5, 2006, reproduced on www.openDemocracy.net.
65. Independent, Dec. 7, 1997.
66. Sunday Times, Oct. 31, 1999.
67. Belfast Telegraph, Dec. 21, 2005.
68. Sinn Fein website,
69. Irish News, Jan. 8, 2005.
70. Confidential information.
71. A Ministry of Defence gagging writ preventing “Ingram” from referring to “Steaknife” obliged the ex-FRU soldier to coin the name “Stakeknife” instead, a fiction that facilitated continuing media coverage of the story.
72. Confidential information.
73. Daily Telegraph, March 29, 1998.
74. Ibid.
75. Irish News, Dec. 1, 2001.
76. Mark Urban, Big Boys’ Rules—The Secret Struggle Against the IRA (London: Faber and Faber, 1992), 181–82.
77. Sunday Tribune, Jan. 31, 1992.
78. Daily Telegraph, March 29, 1998.
79. Irish Times, Dec. 17, 2005.
80. Interview with Irish security source, Sept. 2006.
81. Interview with security source, Nov. 2005.
82. Ibid.
83. Radio Free Eireann interview, Dec. 29, 2005.
84. Interview with former Noraid official, Aug. 2006.
85. Irish Times, Dec. 24, 2005.
86. Interview with former Noraid official, Aug. 2006.
87. Confidential information.
88. See website,
89. Sunday Times, Oct. 31, 1999.
90. The Times, March 20, 2006.
> 91. Interview with former republican activist, autumn 2006.
92. Confidential information.
93. Sunday Independent, Sept. 17, 2006.
94. Interview with Irish security source, Sept. 2006.
Epilogue: “Turning the Titanic in a Bathtub”
1. Confidential conversation with Presbyterian cleric, spring 2001.
2. The Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, Sept. 1999, para 12. 18.
3. Confidential source, July 2006.
4. Email to author, February 2007.
Chronology of Events
1170
First English invasion of Ireland led by Strongbow
1541
English Tudor monarch, Henry VII declares himself King of Ireland
1558–1603
Six of Ulster’s nine counties “planted” with English and Scots settlers
1690
King William of Orange defeats Stuart King James II at Battle of the Boyne
1795
Orange Order founded after battle between Catholic Defenders and Protestant “Peep O’Day Boys”
1798
United Irishmen rebellion put down.
1801
Act of Union unites Ireland and England creating United Kingdom
1867
Fenian rising defeated
1916
Easter Rising put down
1919
Sinn Fein wins 75 of 105 Irish seats at Westminster and forms First Dail in Dublin
1921–23
IRA wages armed campaign to force British withdrawal and Irish independence
Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiated
Irish civil war begins
Michael Collins killed
IRA defeated
Northern Ireland state and the new Free State consolidated
1926
Eamon de Valera forms Fianna Fail
1932
De Valera forms first Fianna Fail government
1938
Anti-treaty remnants of Second Dail elected in 1921 pass on their powers to the IRA Army Council
1939
IRA declares war on Britain with bombing campaign in English cities
1942
Belfast IRA leader Tom Williams hanged Gerry Adams Snr. jailed
1948
Gerry Adams Jnr. born
IRA General Army Order No 8 promulgated; forbids military action against Southern security forces
1956
IRA begins Border Campaign in Northern Ireland
1959
Eamon de Valera retires as taoiseach; succeeded by Sean Lemass
1962
Border Campaign abandoned in failure
Cathal Goulding becomes IRA chief of staff
1963
Terence O’Neill becomes prime minister of Northern Ireland
Roy Johnston and Tony Coughlan join republican movement
1964
Divis Street riots in Belfast over display of Irish flag
1965
O’Neill and Lemass meet in Belfast
Gerry Adams joins D Coy of Belfast Brigade IRA
1966
UVF re-formed in Belfast and kills Catholics
Death toll is 3
1967
NICRA formed
Unionist prime minister Terence O’Neill meets Irish taoiseach Jack Lynch at Stormont; loyalist demonstrators marshalled by Ian Paisley throw snowballs at his car
1968
First civil rights marches in Northern Ireland
1969
Riots in Derry and deaths in Belfast
British army sent to Northern Ireland
IRA splits into Official and Provisional wings
Provisional IRA Convention held; Sean MacStiofain becomes first chief of staff
Death toll for year is 18, cumulative toll is 21
1970
Sinn Fein splits after majority vote to drop abstentionism, dissidents walk out and give their allegiance to new “Provisional” IRA
Siege of St. Matthew’s and Falls Curfew boost Provisionals
IRA commercial bombing campaign begins
Billy McKee is Belfast commander
Adams heads IRA in Ballymurphy and choreographs Ballymurphy riots, defying McKee
Ian Paisley elected to Westminster parliament
Death toll for year is 28, cumulative toll is 49
1971
IRA campaign intensifies
First British soldier shot dead, and Provo commercial bombing campaign begins in Belfast
Adams on Second Belfast Battalion staff and then commander
Adams on Belfast Brigade staff
Internment without trial introduced
IRA campaign mushrooms
Death toll for year is 180, cumulative toll is 229
1972
Bloody Sunday in Derry
Stormont parliament prorogued and direct rule from London imposed
Adams interned but released to take part in cease-fire talks with British
Adams becomes adjutant of Belfast Brigade
Special category status granted to IRA prisoners
Cease-fire breaks down at Belfast Brigade urging
Adams introduces Armalite rifle to IRA
Car bomb weapon accidentally discovered by Belfast Brigade
IRA kills seven in Bloody Friday bombings
Operation Motorman puts IRA under pressure
Adams becomes Belfast Brigade commander
Four Square Laundry operation
“Unknowns” cell formed by Adams
Belfast Brigade begins to “disappear” double agents including Jean McConville
Breton nationalists introduce IRA to Libyans
IRA establishes “embassy” in Libyan capital, Tripoli
Death toll for year is 496, cumulative toll is 725
1973
London bombings carried out by Belfast Brigade
Adams arrested and interned, later imprisoned for trying to escape
Claudia intercepted en route to Ireland from Libya with weapons
Brian Keenan appointed IRA QMG
Northern IRA leaders stop Sinn Fein contesting elections to Northern Ireland Assembly
Death toll for year is 263, cumulative toll is 988
1974
Power-sharing Sunningdale deal brought down by Ulster Workers’ Council general strike assisted by UDA and UVF and mainstream loyalist politicians
Libya grows cool on IRA
Death toll for year is 303, cumulative toll is 1291
1975
IRA cease-fire called, IRA leadership believes British wish to disengage
Lengthy talks with British
Adams and Ivor Bell lead Long Kesh dissidents against Billy McKee leadership and oppose cease-fire
Loyalist killings of Catholics surge
Sectarian killings by IRA and feuding with Officials intensify
IRA cease-fire peters out
Death toll for year is 267, cumulative toll is 1558
1976
New British security policy introduced
RUC put in charge of security operations, internment phased out, juryless courts set up, IRA to be treated as criminals in jail
Prison protest by IRA inmates in new H Blocks begins
Loyalist assassination campaign peaks
Peace People movement emerges after two children killed in IRA-British Army clash
Death toll for year is 308, cumulative toll is 1866
1977
Police interrogation centers begin to process scores of IRA suspects
Adams released from jail and eventually reappointed as Belfast Brigade commander
Father Reid mediates in feud between Official and Provisional IRAs
Adams becomes adjutant-general and joins Army Council
“Long war” speech at Bodenstown in June
Northern Command set up and Revolutionary Council established
I
RA campaign of assassination against Northern businessmen starts
Cellular restructuring of IRA starts
Adams forms “think tank” group of advisers
Adams becomes IRA chief of staff in succession to Seamus Twomey
Martin McGuinness and Brian Keenan join Army Council
McKee censured by Revolutionary Council over handling of feud with Official IRA
Gerry O’Hare deposed as editor of Dublin IRA paper An Phoblacht
Death toll for year is 116, cumulative toll is 1982
1978
Adams loses his rank as chief of staff when he is arrested in the wake of La Mon bombing
Martin McGuinness becomes IRA chief of staff
Adams cleared and released; he becomes adjutant-general, second-in-command to McGuinness
IRA introduces Green Book for recruits
IRA sets up internal security unit to hunt informers
IRA says next cease-fire will happen only when British quit Ireland
An Phoblacht merged with Belfast IRA paper Republican News in Adams takeover
British Army document, Northern Ireland – Future Terrorist Trends leaked to IRA; names Adams and Bell as architects of IRA restructuring O Bradaigh proposal to contest Euro elections opposed by Adams
Death toll for year is 88, cumulative toll is 2070
1979
Margaret Thatcher becomes British prime minister
Lord Mountbatten killed in IRA bombing
18 British soldiers killed in ambush on Border
Move to left advertised in Bodenstown speech
Army Council rejects Eire Nua policy of O Bradaigh–O Conaill leadership as Adams camps bids for supremacy
Adams denies Marxist influence
Northern IRA leaders oppose Bernadette Devlin’s bid for Euro seat on H Blocks issue
Death toll for year is 125, cumulative toll is 2195
1980
First IRA prison hunger strike begins
Northern IRA leaders negotiate secret deal to end fast with Britain’s MI6
Hunger strike ends with no significant concessions; IRA leadership tries to disguise defeat