means to deliver political progress, when all evidence MI5 and the [P]IRA British intelligence was relentless and extremely successful in infiltrating the IRA. 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.
person was better placed to provide MI5 with a topographical survey of the IRA and a breakdown of its Furthermore, his involvement in numerous IRA internal inquiries would also have enabled him to republican activists and provide MI5 with priceless information that could prove useful in turning other But it would be extremely naive to think that Scapaticci is the only senior IRA member to turn 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 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 It is believed that over the 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 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 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 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 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 doctors would have treated the accusation with 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 their head of administration in Stormont was expelled for unsuspected treason stretching over a 20 year Donaldson shed crocodile tears for the "suffering and pain" his actions have caused over a twenty year 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 Sinn Fein attempted to diminish Donaldson's importance in the public mind. 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. 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 Donaldson was also a key aid during the negotiations that led to the Belfast Agreement. 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 intelligence was well aware of the party's negotiating 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 Speculation concerning key MI5 agents at the heart of the Adams-McGuinness leadership has reached 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 Gerry Adams has stated that he believes further prominent provisionals may be exposed as MI5 agents at 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. 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. 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.
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". The Sinn Fein leadership may denounce the Scapaticcis and Donaldsons of this world.
they lack the moral authority to do so. Where lies the and a republican turned Minister of the Crown? Both are employed by, and receive payment from, the British 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.
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