Northern Ireland's Dirty War

[Pagan Hibernia]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68510390

Incredible story this.

What a miserable, murky, grubby little conflict that was.

[Kato]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68510390

Incredible story this.

What a miserable, murky, grubby little conflict that was.

...as opposed to all the happy, transparent, clean conflicts there's been.

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[Pretty Boy]

I can't understand why he wasn't killed by the PIRA when they became suspicious. He was stood down from active service but never taken out. They are hardly an organisation known for being lenient with informers.

I wonder if it came down to embarrassment that the British state had got so deep into the organisation and assassination was an admittance of who he was and what he had done. Or a concern that killing a British operative would have made things tougher around the negotiating table at a time when the UK govt stance was softening towards talking to Sinn Fein and acknowledging them as a legitimate political entity. I suppose the 3rd option is he was a double agent, a claim unlikely to be admitted to by either side now

[CropleyWasGod]

I can't understand why he wasn't killed by the PIRA when they became suspicious. He was stood down from active service but never taken out. They are hardly an organisation known for being lenient with informers.

I wonder if it came down to embarrassment that the British state had got so deep into the organisation and assassination was an admittance of who he was and what he had done. Or a concern that killing a British operative would have made things tougher around the negotiating table at a time when the UK govt stance was softening towards talking to Sinn Fein and acknowledging them as a legitimate political entity.

That's always been the most popular theory.

Your second theory has also been thrown about over the years.

Probably a mixture of both IMO.

[JimBHibees]

I can't understand why he wasn't killed by the PIRA when they became suspicious. He was stood down from active service but never taken out. They are hardly an organisation known for being lenient with informers.

I wonder if it came down to embarrassment that the British state had got so deep into the organisation and assassination was an admittance of who he was and what he had done. Or a concern that killing a British operative would have made things tougher around the negotiating table at a time when the UK govt stance was softening towards talking to Sinn Fein and acknowledging them as a legitimate political entity. I suppose the 3rd option is he was a double agent, a claim unlikely to be admitted to by either side now

Assume all of that.

[Hibbyradge]

I can't understand why he wasn't killed by the PIRA when they became suspicious. He was stood down from active service but never taken out. They are hardly an organisation known for being lenient with informers.

I wonder if it came down to embarrassment that the British state had got so deep into the organisation and assassination was an admittance of who he was and what he had done. Or a concern that killing a British operative would have made things tougher around the negotiating table at a time when the UK govt stance was softening towards talking to Sinn Fein and acknowledging them as a legitimate political entity. I suppose the 3rd option is he was a double agent, a claim unlikely to be admitted to by either side now

I think your third option is the most likely.

[Sergio sledge]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/xkbwldvmb5/exposed-the-secret-army

This is an incredible story and almost reads like a film plot, were the CIA and Mossad collaborating to infiltrate a film crew to gather evidence on the IRA operations in the early days of the troubles? Did British Intelligence see all of the raw unedited footage before the film was even finished? Why did the film hardly get shown?

The documentary accompanying the article is available on iplayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xrx9/the-secret-army

[Hibernia&Alba]

I was expecting a thread about Jeffrey Donaldson :cb