Highlighting issues and events, both current and historical, of the Irish Republican struggle.
posted by Fitz at 4:58 PM
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I had intended to post an entry from the diary of
Bobby Sands each day, but since Blogger locked my
account while I was trying to publish the first entry
and did not unlock it until this afternoon, I will
start with Bobby's March 8th entry. If you wish to
read Bobby's first week of entries (and I recommend
it), you can do so here.
Sunday 8th
In a few hours time I shall be twenty-seven grand
years of age. Paradoxically it will be a happy enough
birthday; perhaps that's because I am free in spirit.
I can offer no other reason.
I was at Mass today, and saw all the lads minus their
beards, etc. An American priest said Mass and I went
to Communion. One of the lads collapsed before Mass,
but he's all right now. Another was taken out to
Musgrave military hospital. These are regular
occurrences.
I am 60.8 kgs today, and have no medical complaints.
I received another note from my sister Bernie and her
boyfriend. It does my heart good to hear from her. I
got the Irish News today, which carried some adverts
in support of the hunger-strike.
There is a stand-by doctor who examined me at the
weekend, a young man whose name I did not know up
until now. Little friendly Dr Ross has been the
doctor. He was also the doctor during the last
hunger-strike.
Dr Emerson is, they say, down with the 'flu... Dr
Ross, although friendly, is in my opinion also an
examiner of people's minds. Which reminds me, they
haven't asked me to see a psychiatrist yet. No doubt
they will yet, but I won't see him for I am mentally
stable, probably more so than he.
I read some wild-life articles in various papers,
which indeed brought back memories of the
once-upon-a-time budding ornithologist! It was a
bright pleasant afternoon today and it is a calm
evening. It is surprising what even the confined eyes
and ears can discover.
I am awaiting the lark, for spring is all but upon us.
How I listened to that lark when I was in H-5, and
watched a pair of chaffinches which arrived in
February. Now lying on what indeed is my death bed, I
still listen even to the black crows.
posted by Fitz at 2:13 PM
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posted by Fitz at 1:25 PM
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IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 57)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1,
Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail:
http://us.f367.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=saoirse@iol.ie&YY=43476&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b
Date: 6 Márta / March 2006
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
http://saoirse.rr.nu/
In this issue:
1. Launch of book on Ó Brádaigh
2. Loyalist death squad threaten Belfast taxi-driver
3. RUC/PSNI fire shots in Belfast
4. Belfast bookies murder weapons probe call
5. British police attacked in Derry
6. Decision not to interview murder suspects
'political'
7. Seventeen quizzed over loyalist pub raid
8. Police raid murder victim's home
9. Controversial new law applied to Hamill inquiry
10. Move to have convicted soldiers thrown out of army
11. Number of legally-held weapons in the Six Counties
12. Protesters block re-opening of pub near Stardust
site
13. Bush's Shannon stopover picketed by anti-war group
14. Sean O'Reilly acquitted of 'obstructing a federal
officer'
15.
1. LAUNCH OF BOOK ON Ó BRÁDAIGH
THE biography "Ruairí Ó Brádaigh - The Life and
Politics of an Irish Revolutionary" will be launched
by Dr Ruán O'Donnell, Department of History, Limerick
University, on April 12 - the Wednesday before Easter.
Other speakers at the launch in the Cúltúrlann,
Monkstown, Dublin at 7.30pm will include the author
Professor Robert W White of Indiana University and the
subject of the book himself, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.
The book is in hardback and runs to 350 pages with
another 60 pages of notes and is the result of over 20
years of research and interviews with the subject. Dr
O'Donnell did extensive work for the bicentenaries of
1798 and 1803 and is now engaged in a study on the
Republican Movement in the 1950s.
2. LOYALIST DEATH SQUAD THREATEN BELFAST TAXI-DRIVER
ON March 4 a nationalist taxi driver was threatened at
gunpoint in the Ligoniel area, near north Belfast
after he picked up four men in his car in the Beldoc
area of the Crumlin Road and drove them to Ligoniel.
One of the men produced a small handgun and placed it
at the back of the driver's head and threatened him.
The man wielding the gun was 25 years of age, with
short ginger hair and a blackeye, and was wearing a
faded denim baseball cap. A struggle ensued, and the
driver managed to escape uninjured.
The four men then left the car and fled down an
alleyway at the side of McKenna`s pub. The attack on
the taxi driver bore the hallmarks of a sectarian
murder bid. It is understood the man worked for a firm
on the Antrim Road in Belfast.
The Red Hand Defenders, a known cover name for the UDA
/UFF loyalist death squad admitted trying to murder
the taxi driver and threatened to kill Republican
ex-prisoners, in a call to a Belfast newspaper, using
a recognised code word. The anonymous caller told the
newspaper it now considered all Republican
ex-prisoners "legitimate targets" from midnight on
March 3.
3. RUC/PSNI FIRE SHOTS IN BELFAST
MEMBERS of the British colonial police, the RUC/PSNI
fired two warning shots in north Belfast on March 6.
The trouble flared at about 1am when four men got out
of a car and threw bottles and other missiles at
Tennant Street RUC/PSNI station.
The police chased them into Montreal Street where a
female member of the RUC was grabbed and hit in the
face with a bottle.
About 30 people leaving a club then became involved,
attacking the British police with bricks, bottles and
other missiles, injuring four of them.
The RUC/PSNI fired two shots and one man was arrested.
Afterwards a van was set on fire at nearby Cambria
Street.
4. BELFAST BOOKIES MURDER WEAPONS PROBE CALL
THE families of five people murdered in a
British-backed loyalist gun attack on a south Belfast
bookmaker's have called on the RUC/PSNI to make public
the history of the weapons used in the attack.
Relatives of the dead gathered outside the Seán Graham
betting shop on the Ormeau Road on February 6 for a
memorial service on the 14th anniversary of the
killings.
On February 5, 1992, two Ulster Defence Association
gunmen opened fire in the bookmaker's shop with an
AK47 assault rifle and a Browning pistol. They killed
five people.
It later emerged that the UDA informer William Stobie
had given the Browning pistol to RUC detectives before
the attack.
The RUC gave the gun back to the UDA, which used the
weapon to murder a nationalist in a west Belfast pub
before using it in the Seán Graham massacre.
The AK47 had previously been used by the Ulster
Volunteer Force in a murder bid on a north Belfast
nationalist.
The British colonial police have consistently refused
to make public the full history of the weapons,
despite repeated requests from the families of the
Seán Graham victims to do so.
"There is something about those guns that they don't
want us to find out," he said. "Why else are they
refusing to disclose the full history of the weapons?
Why was this crucial information deleted in the
published version of the Cory report?
"I was shot five times in the attack. My
brother-in-law was killed, along with four other
people. I have a right to know the history of the guns
involved."
The Browning and AK47 were part of a consignment
brought into the Six-Counties in December 1987 by
British agent Brian Nelson.
The arms were divided between the UDA, UVF and the
Ulster Resistance group, which for a time had links to
Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party.
The South African weapons have been used in more than
100 sectarian killings since January 1988.
5. BRITISH POLICE ATTACKED IN DERRY
MEMBERS of the British colonial police came under
attack from a crowd of up to 20 youths in the Moss
Park and Glengalliagh Road area of Derry on March 4.
The crowd attacked two RUC/PSNI vehicles shortly
before 12.30am and tried to drag members from one of
the cars. CS spray was used to disperse the crowd and
two young men were arrested, but one managed to escape
from custody while still wearing handcuffs. One
policeman was slightly injured in the disturbances and
two RUC/PSNI vehicles were damaged.
6. DECISION NOT TO INTERVIEW MURDER SUSPECTS
'POLITICAL'
THE decision not to interview four key suspects in the
murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago was
probably political, according to Justice Henry Barron.
A British-backed loyalist death squad, including a
member of the British army's Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR) abducted Séamus Ludlow, aged 47, in County Louth
and shot dead on May 2, 1976, but the 26-County police
never interviewed the suspects who identified by the
RUC 18 months later.
At the Joint Leinster House Committee on Justice, on
February 16, Judge Henry Barron was asked if this
decision had been taken because of the volatile
situation at the time. "I think the reality is that it
was probably political," he replied.
In his report into Séamus Ludlow's death, Judge Barron
said it was most probable the decision not to carry
out the interviews with the Six-County-based suspects
was made by former Garda Commissioner Laurence Wren,
then head of the Garda C3 security section.
The two garda detectives who received the information
from the RUC in 1979 never received authorisation from
C3 to travel across the border to follow it up,
despite the fact that two of the suspects were in
prison and readily available for interview.
Judge Barron told the committee he stood over his
report's conclusion, despite strong denials from
Laurence Wren that he had any involvement in the
decision.
"It must have been made by the most senior member and
that was Mr Wren," he said.
The four suspects named in Judge Barron's report -
Paul Hosking, James Fitzsimmons, Richard Long and
Samuel Carroll - were arrested in the Six-Counties in
1998, but the Six-County DPP decided not to prosecute
them because of insufficient evidence.
Judge Barron said he would like to have seen the RUC
files on the Ludlow murder while compiling his report,
but this was not possible because he got no
co-operation from the British authorities.
The family of Séamus Ludlow, who have travelled from
Dundalk to attend each committee hearing, are calling
for a full public inquiry into his murder.
Judge Barron's fourth and final report, into bombings
in Dundalk in the 1970s, is almost complete, but its
publication may be delayed to see if the names of
those allegedly responsible can be included.
7. SEVENTEEN QUIZZED OVER LOYALIST PUB RAID
ON March 2 members of the RUC/PSNI arrested 17
following a raid on a north Belfast pub, believed to
be an operation against the loyalist Ulster Defence
Association.
Armed RUC/PSNI using CS gas stormed the Alexander Bar
in Tigers Bay, north Belfast, where it is understood
the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was rehearsing
for a so-called show of strength. It is understood an
event was being planned for some time this weekend.
It was later reported that two leading loyalists who
have had talks with Bertie Ahern and 26-County
President Mary McAleese's husband were among the 17
people arrested.
South Belfast UDA leader Jackie McDonald and Ihab
Shoukri, brother of north Belfast UDA leader Andre,
were among those detained for questioning.
McDonald and Shoukri were part of an Ulster Political
Research Group (UPRG) delegation that held talks with
Bertie Ahern in 2004.
Martin McAleese has met the pair on a number of
occasions - the most recent of which was last month -
in an attempt to get the UDA declare and end to
paramilitary activity.
He also played a round of golf with McDonald at the
exclusive K Club, Co Kildare, and Mrs McAleese
embraced him during a visit to south Belfast last
year.
Eleven of those arrested were remanded in custody on
March 6 at Belfast Magistrates' Court. The court was
packed as the suspects appeared in the dock one by one
to face charges of helping to set up a meeting of the
UDA and Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Before the men appeared, magistrate Des Perry warned
he would clear the courtroom if any disturbances broke
out.
Four of the accused: John Davis, 48, of Glebe Manor,
Glengormley; Alan McClean, 19, of Westland Drive; Gary
McKenzie, 34, of Claire Heights; and Samuel Robinson,
37, of Arosa Crescent, all of Belfast, were charged
with assisting in arranging or managing a meeting in
support of a proscribed organisation - the UDA or UFF.
The other seven were accused of the same offence plus
an additional charge of dressing like a member of the
banned groups.
They were: Stephen Crawford, 21, of Hillview Avenue
and Robert Neill, 21, from Fairview Crescent, both
Newtownabbey; George McHenry, 38, of Ardoyne Road;
Gary Dunseath, 22, from Upper Canning Street; James
Fisher, 36, of Alliance Road; Mark Green, 23, of
Hogarth Street; and Gary Dicks, 21, from Glenrosa
Street, all of Belfast.
Shoukri was among six other men and a woman questioned
as part of the police operation who have been released
while further reports are prepared for the Public
Prosecution Service.
All 11 men were remanded in custody to appear again
via videolink on April 3.
8. POLICE RAID MURDER VICTIM'S HOME
THE family of a murdered father-of-six condemned the
RUC/PSNI on March 2 for carrying out searches for
petrol bombs at his former home in west Belfast.
Gerard Devlin, 39, was stabbed to death in the
Ballymurphy area last month as he prepared to take his
children away for the weekend.
The victim's aunt, Bernadette O`Rawe, said eight
RUC/PSNI Land Rovers arrived at the family home in
Whitecliff Parade at 9am.
She claimed officers stayed for more than three hours
and took dozens of photographs inside the property.
The PSNI searches came just days after the family
returned to Ballymurphy after spending time away in
the aftermath of the murder.
9. CONTROVERSIAL NEW LAW APPLIED TO HAMILL INQUIRY
THE inquiry into the murder of Portadown man Robert
Hamill is to become the second collusion case switched
over to controversial new legislation.
The chairperson of the inquiry, which is examining
police handling of Robert Hamill's death at the hands
of a loyalist mob, recently asked Secretary of State
Peter Hain to convert the case to the Inquiries Act.
Former High Court Justice Edwin Jowitt has asked for
the switch because "important witnesses are unwilling
to give evidence" and the new law will allow him to
force them to appear.
The Act has attracted criticism because it gives
British Ministers unprecedented powers to keep
information secret.
David Wright, the father of murdered LVF leader Billy
Wright, is currently mounting a High Court challenge
against the use of the law in the inquiry into his
son's prison murder.
The Wright case was originally set up under the
Prisons Act but was converted to the Inquiries Act
last year.
The family of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane have
strenuously opposed Government plans to hold the
inquiry into his murder under the Act.
Peter Hain wrote to Pat Finucane's widow Geraldine
last week to defend the Act and tell her that it would
not be used to cover up information. He said the
"volume of sensitive evidence is far too great:"in the
Finucane case to use the old system.
Last week retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter
Cory, who recommended the Hamill, Wright and Finucane
inquiries alongside two other cases, cast doubt over
the Government's claims that serious national security
issues could be compromised by the Finucane case.
10. MOVE TO HAVE CONVICTED SOLDIERS THROWN OUT OF ARMY
MORE than 50 British MPs are backing moves to have the
two Scottish soldiers convicted of murdering Belfast
teenager Peter McBride thirteen years ago thrown out
of the army.
Members of a range of parties at Westminster have
signed an SDLP Early Day Motion pushing for a change
in the regulations which allow the soldiers who shot
him to return to the army after serving just three
years in jail.
The news came after it was disclosed that Prime
Minister Tony Blair has refused to meet the mother of
the murdered teenager, Jean McBride. She has long been
campaigning to have the solider expelled from the
army.
Guardsmen Mark Wright and James Fisher were sentenced
to life for murdering Peter McBride in 1995.However,
they were released from prison three years later and
allowed to rejoin their regiment. At their trial they
said they opened fire because they wrongly thought
McBride was carrying a bomb.
11. NUMBER OF LEGALLY-HELD WEAPONS IN THE SIX COUNTIES
THE number of weapons, including shotguns, held on
licence in the Six Counties last May was 144,554 - up
by 5,634 (almost 4%) on the 2001 figure. It's
undisputed that the majority of licence holders are
unionists.
12. PROTESTERS BLOCK RE-OPENING OF PUB NEAR STARDUST
SITE
ON March 4 survivors of the Stardust disaster and
relatives of those killed in the nightclub fire
protested outside Bertie Ahern's constituency office
in Dublin.
The protest was part of a renewed campaign for a
proper inquiry into the blaze, which killed 48 people
on Valentine's Day in 1981.
The survivors and relatives have never accepted the
outcome of the original inquiry, which criticised
owner Eamon Butterly, Dublin Corporation and the
Department of the Environment for safety failings.
They say they have been inundated with new witness
statements since the airing of a television
documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of the
disaster last month.
13. BUSH'S SHANNON STOPOVER PICKETED BY ANTI-WAR GROUP
A SMALL group of anti-war activists held a protest
vigil when President George W Bush's plane refuelled
at Shannon airport early on March 5.
The US Presidential aircraft, Airforce One, touched
down at Shannon Airport just before 2.45am while
bringing George Bush home to Washington from his state
visit to Pakistan and India.
A security operation involving several hundred police
and soldiers was maintained before and during the
stopover.
A small group of anti-war campaigners protested at the
airport. Spokesperson Ed Horgan claimed that such
visits put Ireland at risk of a possible terror
attack.
"I think if the United States military continue to be
allowed use Shannon airport there is a very strong
danger Ireland will be attacked, but the attack would
be on Dublin, not on Shannon," he said.
14. SEAN O'REILLY ACQUITTED OF 'OBSTRUCTING A FEDERAL
OFFICER'
ON December 13, 2005 following a non-violent break in
at the NSA/CIA Pine Gap Sattelite Station in Alice
Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Sean O'Reilly
was one of six people arrested during a peaceful
demonstration at Pine Gap.
Jim Dowling from Daybora and Adele Goldie from
Brisbane entered the base undetected and photographed
themselves on the roof of a building after cutting
through two security fences.
Donna Mulhern from Sydney and Bryan Law from Cairns
cut through a perimeter fence and went undetected for
an hour before being arrested cutting through a second
fence.
Jessica Morrison from Melbourne and Sean O'Reilly from
Brisbane held a peaceful vigil outside the front gates
around six that morning after the arrests had been
made. Police searched their vehicle and removed
property, when questioned about their actions, Sean
O'Reilly was arrested for hindering police. Jessica
Morrison was then followed for a two hours by federal
police before being taken into custody, but was later
released without charge.
Sean was charged with "obstructing a federal police
officer" merely for questioning the officers right to
search his car. Sean went to court in Alice Springs on
Monday February 27, 2006. The pre-trial hearing of the
remaining Pine Gap protestors is set for April with a
jury trial later in the year. Pine Gap is used for
electronic information gathering and targeting for the
U.S. war machine.
In the spirit civil disobedience the inspection, by
the group Christians Against ALL Terrorism, was an
anti-terrorist exercise. The base has long been closed
off to the Australian public and the Australian
Government. The group believes Pine Gap to be a
terrorist base. The Australian Government has become
complicit in terrorism by leasing the land to the
U.S., who uses the satellite tracking system to
pinpoint targets in Iraq and Afghanistan.
100,000 Iraqi civilians are dead, in a war that has
been declared illegal by the U.N. and condemned as
immoral by spiritual leaders worldwide. The group from
the beginning had made public their intention to
inspect Pine Gap. They contacted Defense Minister,
Senator Robert Hill, asking for permission to inspect
the base and then later stating when the inspection
would be carried out. The Senator replied by
threatening the group with seven years jail under the
1952 Defence act.
On Monday Sean's case commenced but evidence from
attending/arresting officers was full of inaccuracies
and inconsistencies. The case was adjourned until
Friday March 3.
An edited report from Sean said: "The Magistrate,
Melanie Little, took about 35 minutes to sum up.
Basically, she found too many inconsistencies in the
evidence provided by the prosecution and the previous
cases provided by the prosecutor re hindrance appeared
to work in my favour.
"Ms Little found that there was not sufficient
substance in the arresting officer's evidence to prove
I hindered him. It just feels great and I'm feeling
very happy with my performance in court. It is amazing
when you realize during the summation that it looks
like it is swinging in your favour. Trust it will be a
good omen for the 4 in April and beyond. I've made an
application for costs and have a hearing set down for
the 23 March with a telephone link up. The prosecutor
was sitting in Darwin and watching it all by video
link"
Related Link:
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/101603.php
ENDS
posted by Fitz at 1:18 PM
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We, the Republican POWs in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, and our comrades in Armagh prison, are entitled to and hereby demand political status, and we reject today, as we have consistently rejected every day since September 14th, 1976, when the Blanket protest began, the British government's attempted criminalisation of ourselves and our struggle.
Five years ago this day, the British government declared that anyone arrested and convicted after March 1st, 1976, was to be treated as a criminal and no longer as a political prisoner. Five years later we are still able to declare that that criminalisation policy, which we have resisted and suffered, has failed.
If a British government experienced such a long and persistent resistance to a domestic policy in England, then that policy would almost certainly be changed. But not so in Ireland where its traditional racist attitude blinds its judgement to reason and persuasion.
Only the loud voice of the Irish people and world opinion can bring them to their senses and only a hunger strike, where lives are laid down as proof of the strength of our political convictions, can rally such opinion, and present the British with the problem that, far from criminalising the cause of lreland, their intransigence is actually bringing popular attention to that cause.
We have asserted that we are political prisoners and everything about our country, our arrests, interrogations, trials and prison conditions show that we are politically motivated and not motivated by selfish reasons or for selfish ends. As further demonstration of our selflessness and the justness of our cause, a number of our comrades, beginning today with Bobby Sands, will hunger strike to the death unless the British government abandons its criminalisation policy and meets our demand for political status.
posted by Fitz at 5:58 PM
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posted by Fitz at 10:22 PM
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Try separate the wood from the trees:
MI5, Sinn Fein/IRA (sic) and the intelligence war
Paul Maguire • Forum Magazine, Feb-Mar 2006
For three decades British intelligence pursued a dual
strategy vis-à-vis the provisional movement. This
parallel strategy had as its twin objectives a gradual
diminution of the [P]IRA's militarily capacity and a
concurrent strengthening of the position of those
within the provisional leadership who were pioneering
a constitutional reformist agenda. Well placed MI5
agents within both the [P]IRA and Sinn Fein (sic) were
essential for the successful attainment of these twin
objectives. The exposure of Denis Donaldson and
Freddie Scapaticci as British agents illustrates the
extent to which the higher echelons of both the
political and military wings of the provisional
movement had been infiltrated by MI5. These
revelations also undermine - in very stark terms - the
veracity of Gerry Adams' repeated assertion that the
[P]IRA is an undefeated army.
Paving the way
By the mid-1980s Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness
were privately determined to guide the provisional
movement down a purely constitutional path. The 1981
election of hunger-strikers and the 1983 election of
Gerry Adams as MP for West Belfast highlighted a
previously untapped reservoir of political support
which whetted the appetite of those Adamsistas who
wished to exchange armed struggle for the ballot box.
By May 1987 Gerry Adams felt confident enough to
secretly present Charles Haughey with a 15 page
document outlining the terms for an IRA ceasefire and
the creation of "a pan-nationalist front". Although
the vast majority of IRA volunteers and a minority of
the IRA Army Council were totally unaware of this
development, it was clearly only a matter of "when"
and not "if" an IRA ceasefire would transpire.
British intelligence was wholly cognisant of these
internal shifts. However, the defeat of the IRA or the
diminution of its capacity to wage war remained its
primary objective. This would not only eradicate the
explosion of bombs on the streets of London [a
perennial concern of the successive British
governments], but also strengthen the hand of those
within the provisional movement who were promoting a
new purely political approach.
British intelligence recruited informants, imprisoned
experienced IRA activists and ambushed and executed
hardline active service units as part of its campaign
to weaken the IRA. An iron fist was brought to bear on
republican heartlands hostile to the new
Adams-McGuinness strategy. For example, the hardline
and vehemently anti-Adams IRA East Tyrone Brigade was
practically decimated by a combination of British
intelligence gathering and the deployment of the SAS.
By the early 1990s the IRA's armed campaign appeared
increasingly unproductive and inefficient. The din of
internal voices supporting the "peace strategy" grew
louder. Who among Adams' hardline opponents could
convincing argue that armed struggle remained a viable
means to deliver political progress, when all evidence
suggested otherwise?
MI5 and the [P]IRA
British intelligence was relentless and extremely
successful in infiltrating the IRA. Freddie
Scapaticci's recruitment as a British agent was a
major MI5 coup and perhaps one of the single most
important turning points in its intelligence war
against the IRA. As head of security and intelligence
Scapaticci had full access to every IRA department. No
person was better placed to provide MI5 with a
topographical survey of the IRA and a breakdown of its
personnel. Furthermore, his involvement in numerous
IRA internal inquiries would also have enabled him to
identify individual personal weaknesses among various
republican activists and provide MI5 with priceless
information that could prove useful in turning other
agents. But it would be extremely naive to think that
Scapaticci is the only senior IRA member to turn
informant. Indeed some have argued he may not even be
the agent code-named 'Stakeknife', as MI5 never
exposes an agent unless another is equally or better
placed to provide similar high grade intelligence.
Although Freddie Scappaticci and Sean O'Callaghan
[former Adjutant-General IRA Southern Command] are
perhaps two of the best known IRA apostates, there
have been other traitors of a similar or higher rank
whose names have been withheld from both the IRA rank
and file and the general public. In 1996 the IRA
uncovered another MI5 agent within its higher
echelons. John Carroll was a senior member of the IRA
Southern Command and an elected Sinn Fein councillor
in County Offaly when he was recruited by MI5. He was
exposed as a British agent after an indepth IRA
investigation into his suspicious travelling habits
and his personal finances. However, Carroll was spared
a summary execution because of the political damage it
might cause Sinn Fein and the negative impact such a
revelation might have on IRA volunteers at a sensitive
time in the peace process. The entire sordid saga was
kept well under wraps. It is believed that over the
years Carroll possessed sensitive information
concerning the IRA's "England campaign" and was
responsible for numerous operations being compromised.
However, the true extent of the damage he inflicted on
the IRA will never be established.
What is indisputable is that MI5 was singularly
successful in infiltrating the higher echelons of the
IRA. The IRA's intelligence and security department
was basically administered by British intelligence.
The IRA Executive [one of the highest IRA decision
making bodies], the Southern Command and the GHQ
Department [the body responsible for the day to day
running of the IRA] were also compromised.
By the early 1990s the lines separating sections of
the IRA hierarchy and British intelligence were most
definitely blurred. Indeed it sends a shiver down
one's spine when one considers the odds stacked
against IRA volunteers in the field. The bleakness of
this scenario is further compounded when one takes
into account the fact that a majority of the IRA
leadership was, for close on two decades, only too
prepared to accept far less than what its volunteers
were fighting, dying and being sent to prison for.
However, the fact remains that by 1994 the IRA was
thoroughly infiltrated and rendered militarily
impotent. One aspect of MI5's dual-strategy was - for
the most part - completed.
MI5 and Sinn Fein (sic)
While weakening or defeating the IRA remained its
primary objective, MI5 did not ignore or dismiss
developments within Sinn Fein. MI5 monitored all
internal political discussions and even contributed to
those debates through well-placed agents and thereby
influenced the political trajectory of the movement.
It is a well document fact that the Adams-McGuinness
leadership is surrounded by a "revolutionary
think-tank" comprised of current or former IRA
volunteers and veteran Sinn Fein members. If it had
been previously suggested that some of these prominent
republicans were British agents, Sinn Fein spin
doctors would have treated the accusation with
contempt. But not any more. The image of a smug Denis
Donaldson flanked on the steps of Stormont by Adams
and McGuinness, while both party leaders hailed his
virtue and innocence, rests absurdly alongside the
spectacle of the Sinn Fein president, only seventy-two
hours later, informing a party press conference that
their head of administration in Stormont was expelled
for unsuspected treason stretching over a 20 year
period.
Donaldson shed crocodile tears for the "suffering and
pain" his actions have caused over a twenty year
period. As is the case with Scapaticci, O'Callaghan
and Carroll, we will never know how many people he
dispatched to an early grave or consigned to a grey
prison cell. Sinn Fein attempted to diminish
Donaldson's importance in the public mind. But what
cannot be denied is that Donaldson was part of the
Adams-McGuinness "think tank" and that he was a
stalwart defender not only of that leadership but also
the peace process - a position entirely consistent
with his secret life as a MI5 operative. Donaldson
also participated in all major strategic debates
within the provisionals over the previous two decades.
He reorganised the Sinn Fein US support network, where
he replaced traditional republicans with loyal
Adamsistas. Donaldson was also a key aid during the
negotiations that led to the Belfast Agreement. What
an invaluable asset he must have been for his MI5
handlers? We know Sinn Fein was operating a spy-ring
at Stormont, as thousands of documents were uncovered.
But was this a subterfuge? Was Donaldson's "handlers"
feeding bogus intelligence to the Sinn Fein
leadership, thus swaying opinion and influencing
sensitive political decisions? Obviously British
intelligence was well aware of the party's negotiating
bottom line long before negotiations commenced.
But just as Scapaticci was not the only senior MI5
informant within the IRA, it is naive to imagine that
Donaldson is the only senior British agent within Sinn
Fein. Speculation concerning key MI5 agents at the
heart of the Adams-McGuinness leadership has reached
fever pitch over recent weeks. Recently the PSNI
Special Branch has attempted to exacerbate these
rumours by visiting numerous prominent Belfast
provisionals in the company of a flotilla of
landrovers and furniture removal vans. Such is the
level of internal paranoia, key Sinn Fein
apparatchiks, such as Jim Gibney, have publicly urged
party members "to remain calm and to hold their heads
high". Gerry Adams has stated that he believes further
prominent provisionals may be exposed as MI5 agents at
a future date. Upon what information is this opinion
based? Has the Sinn Fein president any evidence of MI5
agents among his party leadership, which he has been
reluctant to disclose lest it lower party morale?
Only a fool could believe that the Sinn Fein
leadership has not been heavily infiltrated by MI5. In
fact, since the early 1990s, a section of the IRA has
held a longstanding suspicion regarding the bona fides
of some prominent Sinn Fein members. In 1994 the
spotlight of distrust fell upon the prominent Sinn
Fein negotiator, Mitchell McLaughlin, after the IRA
received reports that McLaughlin was engaged in
unauthorised and protracted contact with a senior
British civil servant in Whitehall. At a sensitive
time in the peace process, the IRA leadership chose
not to abduct McLaughlin in order to avoid adverse
media publicity and lower party morale. Instead he was
invited to attend a meeting with several IRA members
on the grounds that they wished to interview him about
certain matters in Derry. The IRA investigators
detained and interrogated McLaughlin for a significant
period of time. However, the IRA leadership was later
informed that the outcome of the internal
investigation was "inconclusive".
Unlikely partners?
The Sinn Fein leadership may denounce the Scapaticcis
and Donaldsons of this world. But I would argue that
they lack the moral authority to do so. Where lies the
difference between a republican turned British agent
and a republican turned Minister of the Crown? Both
are employed by, and receive payment from, the British
state. Both function to preserve and administer
British rule in Ireland. Both are morally and
politically repugnant, albeit to varying degrees.
In the final analysis few can deny that the outcome of
the Adams-McGuinness "peace strategy" mirrored MI5's
longstanding objectives towards the IRA. MI5 and the
Adams-McGuinness leadership gradually sought a
termination of the armed campaign in favour of an
exclusively democratic approach. MI5 guarded British
sovereignty over the North and upheld the continued
existence of the northern state within the "United
Kingdom" - a constitutional reality which the Sinn
Fein/IRA leadership has now embraced. So just as it is
reasonable to ask where lies the dividing line between
certain senior members of the Provisional IRA and
British intelligence, is it not just as reasonable to
ask where lies the dividing line between the
Adams-McGuinness "peace strategy" and British
intelligence's favoured solution for militant Irish
republicanism? If you have the stomach, try and
separate the wood from the trees.
posted by Fitz at 9:31 PM
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RSF news - Republican Sinn Féin - http://rsf.ie
Republican Sinn Féin
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill,
223 Parnell Street
Dublin 1, Ireland
For further information contact:
Des Dalton:
Vice-President: 086-329 1809
Ruairí Óg Ó Brádaigh
Publicity Officer: Dublin 872 9747,
087-648 2061
Phone: +353-1-872 9747
Fax: +353-1-872 9757
e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
rsf.ie
posted by Fitz at 9:17 PM
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