Category: British Army
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Prime Suspects.
Introduction: Margaret Thatcher, MI5 and the cold-blooded murder of an Irish lawyer. The independent public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane hopes to examine ‘to what extent were his killers encouraged, assisted, protected or directed’ by the British state, at least according to barrister Matthew Hill, its lead counsel. He added that, ‘There is…
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Bring back The Phoenix Part II: 50+ espionage and dirty trick stories from 2024.
Click on the link below to read a selection of stories from The Phoenix 2024, including: Brig. Frank Kitson’s dirty war; what really happened on Bloody Sunday (not the nonsense in the Savile Inquiry report); Patrick Crinnion, MI6’s spy inside the Gardaí; the Dublin and Monaghan bombings; Barrie Gane of MI6; Freddie Scappaticci; the Kincora…
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Bring back The Phoenix. In the meantime here are approximately 30 dirty trick intelligence stories from 2020 to 2023.
The Phoenix ceased publication in June 2026. The magazine was the only real source of articles about collusion, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, Kincora, MI5 dirty tricks and attacks on Irish neutrality, etc, on Irish newsstands. It has to be brought back – somehow. Otherwise, we will be relying on The Irish Times and other similar publications…
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From the Vaults: Capt. Robert Nairac.
Many articles, books and documentaries have been written about Capt. Robert Nairac, who was killed by Republicans on 15 May 1977. This article appeared in November 1977. His body has never been recovered. Covert History’s account of his role in the Dublin and Monaghan bombing and the UVF’s Glenanne Gang can be found in the…
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Andy Burnham (Webbook)
By David Burke. Introduction. In the early 1970s, Colin Wallace tried to expose the horrific sex abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home. For doing so, he was driven out of his job at British Army HQ at Lisburn by a series of dirty tricks, perpetrated by MI5. He had served as Senior Information Officer at Lisburn…
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Armageddon.
There is a memorable scene in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove where the leaders of America and Russia find themselves locked into a catastrophic war because of the existence of a doomsday machine originally designed to enforce world peace. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer now faces a potential doomsday scenario of his own. He is trying…
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The Resistance Men (Webbook).
© Deirdre Younge. Introduction. ‘What were they trying to do around here .. create civil war?‘ (Willie Frazer, referring to the intelligence services operating in the 1970s in Armagh. (2016)) During the ‘Troubles’ Armagh, Tyrone and Down were the cockpit of a vicious war which descended into sectarianism fuelled by collusion. Intelligence material submitted to…
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Running Stakeknife
The Operation Kenova report on Stakeknife makes it clear MI5 were aware of Scappaticci’s activities from his initial recruitment. They were involved in briefing and tasking him via his FRU handlers. MI5 broke into Kenova’s document safe while they were working in the Services offices. Kenova is a PSNI commissioned report, authored by two former…
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From the Vaults: Ted Heath 1971
This is how This Week, an Irish magazine, perceived Ted Heath and his policy for Ireland in 1971. Heath was then in his second year as Britain’s prime minister. The article can be read and or downloaded by clicking on the link below:
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A Walk on the Dark Side. [WebBook.]
Part 1. British Agents in Ireland. The PPS in Northern Ireland will not charge an unnamed agent who worked undercover in Northern Ireland for UK intelligence services. This is despite the fact he admitted to carrying out murders in the course of working undercover. The agent’s admission was made while instructing intelligence officers in spycraft.…
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Hooded men.
1. No one shouted ‘Stop’. 2. The ‘Beasting’ of prisoners in Derry 3. Torture and mutilation 4. Torture and mutilation as a counter-insurgency tactic in Her Majesty’s Colonies 5. The Hooded Men. 6. Delegating murder and torture to British agents in Loyalist paramilitary gangs. 7. Torture, mutilation and murder by a British agent in the…
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The Judicial Fixer (Webbook).
1. Brigadier Frank Kitson subverts the law. 2. Judicial compromise. 3. An Allegedly Independent Judge pre-judges the Murder Victims by Attending a Meeting at which they were referred to as ‘the other side’ 4. Threats to Muzzle the Ever Compliant British Media 5. Black Propaganda 6. John Hume wanted an “independent authority” to conduct the inquiry 7. Fabricated Evidence. 8. Lord Saville…
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Returning the Serve, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974. [WebBook]
1. London will not share MI5 and MI6’s files with Dublin. 2. The Corbet Lough conspiracy. 3. 2024: A Legal action is being pursued by families and survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. 4. The President who spelt it out. 5. The Government has Garda surveillance records of the people who campaigned for the…
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Sir Richard White’s black heart (Webbook).
Introduction. In 1971, 342 people were swept up by the British army and interned, i.e. subjected to indefinite detention without a trial. Britain’s intelligence community was looking for people they hoped would be able to provide them with information about members of the IRA. 14 men were chosen for ‘special treatment’ and taken to a secret…
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From the Vaults: Kitson’s War with the I.R.A by Sean Boyne.
Sean Boyne, the Dublin-based author of the highly regarded volume, ‘Gunrunners, the Covert Arms Trail to Ireland 2006’, had a distinguished career as an investigative journalist. In 1972 he was writing for This Week magazine. On the 8th of June that year, he produced the cover story, ‘Kitson’s war with the I.R.A.’. People reading this…
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A supplement to ‘A State in Denial’, taking the story of collusion to the 1990s. By Margaret Urwin. [WebBook.]
Margaret Urwin (née Kelly) has worked with Justice for the Forgotten, the organisation representing the families and survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, since 1993 and, for more than a decade, with the families of the victims of other cross-Border bombings. Justice for the Forgotten affiliated with the Pat Finucane Centre in December 2010.…
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The Spy in Leinster House. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris cannot be asked to investigate due to a conflict of interest. Harris used to work with MI5. By David Burke.
1. The British agent in Leinster House. The Joint Support Group (JSG) ran British agents in the Republic of Ireland for British military and civilian intelligence agencies during the Troubles. A former British military intelligence agent known by the pseudonym, Sam Rosenfeld, has alleged that a senior Irish government figure has served as an agent…
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McGurks:
Fifteen civilians – including two children – were massacred in a no-warning UVF bomb attack on 4 December 1971 at McGurk’s Bar Massacre. Even before all the victims were identified, the British state briefed the media with lies about the massacre and its innocent victims. They claimed the pub was controlled by the IRA and that…
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An appalling vista: disturbing indications of Kitson’s foreknowledge of a third massacre of innocent civilians.Tragedy took fifteen lives including two children. By David Burke.
New evidence has emerged about the UVF’s bombing of McGurk’s Bar in Belfast in December 1971. The explosion caused the entire structure of the premises to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians – including two children – and wounding seventeen more. It was the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles. Brigadier (later General Sir) Frank…
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Silent Defenders. By Ciarán MacAirt.
In a whitewashed barn decked out with Ulster flags, Union Jacks and pictures of the Queen, their leader in charge of this meeting sat at an old table. He pressed a button on a tape recorder. A voice boomed out: I address you as the commander in chief of the organisation, Silent Defenders. Author Ciarán…
![A Walk on the Dark Side. [WebBook.]](https://coverthistory.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/a-walk-on-the-dark-side3.jpg)
![Returning the Serve, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974. [WebBook]](https://coverthistory.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/covert-history-ireland-amp-uk-magazine.-home-6a9a9b34d8db3.png)
![A supplement to ‘A State in Denial’, taking the story of collusion to the 1990s. By Margaret Urwin. [WebBook.]](https://coverthistory.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/state-of-denial4.png)
