Tag: Arms Crisis
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Dick Walsh, obstacle to the peace process.
Introduction. It says a lot about The Irish Times that a bust of Dick Walsh – the most revered journalist in The Irish Times pantheon – takes pride of place in the foyer of paper. Dick Walsh was an adviser to Cathal Goulding, chief of staff of the Official IRA. Between 1970 and 1983 the…
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Sir Garret (Webbook)
Introduction. Charles Haughey of Fianna Fáil and Garret FitzGerald of Fine Gael took very different approaches when dealing with Britain’s covert intelligence services and the more questionable diplomats assigned to the Dublin embassy. While FitzGerald was happy to dance with Her Majesty’s emissaries and spooks, Haughey recoiled. This contrast was never more apparent than when…
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Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil are promoting a book on FF’s ‘Bulletin’ newsletter which claims some of its ministers tried to arm the Provisional IRA. Here, IRA veteran Des Long debunks this as a ‘fairy tale’.
In this interview, Des Long debunks the myth about Charles Haughey and the Provisional IRA, as a ‘fairy tale’. It is one that has resurfaced in a new book, ‘Charlie v Garret’, which is being promoted on Fianna Fáil’s ‘Bulletin‘ newsletter. Long starts the interview by providing a brief outline of his career in the…
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Nest of Spies (Webbook).
1. Introduction. Part 1: A bloodsoaked start, after which cooperation was achieved. 2. From the elimination of the Cairo Gang to intelligence cooperation. 3. Spying on a Zionist TD for MI5. 4. Cooperation during the IRA’s Operation Harvest. Part 2. An aristocratic spy ring. 5. ‘It was as simple as picking up a phone.’ 6.…
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Dining for Her Majesty.
Introduction: The Irish Times apologetically sought guidance on what to report from London. In an earlier article in this series – which looks at British intelligence propaganda operations and The Irish Times – I outlined how Maj. Thomas McDowell, the Belfast-born Unionist, ex-British Army, ex-MI5, owner of the paper, had approached 10 Downing Street in…
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RTE’s ‘Gun Plot’
By Sean Brennan. The documentary titled ‘Gun Plot’ which was shown on RTE 1 last night was fascinating television. The RTE production team should be commended for this brilliant documentary on a very important and significant political and legal event which occurred 50 years ago but has not been properly addressed by the media up…
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The Spy in Leinster House.
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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Misrepresenting Haughey’s relationship with the Provos.
The Irish Times promoted the Official IRA’s version of the Arms Crisis
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Vilification Once More
Des O’Malley, the Minister for Justice in 1970, continues to ignore the hard questions about the Arms Crisis. Instead, he persists in smearing anyone who dares to disagree with him. Some of his latest slurs question the integrity of those in RTÉ responsible for the ‘GunPlot’ series. It is now time to stop throwing the…
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The Artful Dodger:
By Sean Brennan. I have just read the article in the Sunday Independent [20 June] concerning whether RTE contacted Des O’Malley first while the station was producing the GunPlot series. It is the second article which the Sunday Independent has produced about the issue. The earlier one – written by Des O’Malley – appeared on…
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O’Malley’s silence has become thunderous.
By Sean Brennan The purpose of this article is to examine Des O’ Malley’s Role in the events which are commonly known as The Arms Crisis and The Arms Trials 1970. The Arms Crisis erupted during the early hours of 6 May 1970, when a press release issued by the Government Information Service announced that…
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Paudge Brennan, the forgotten man of the Arms Crisis
A note from the editor: This article is about the late Paudge Brennan, the Fianna Fáil Minister who resigned a little over 50 years ago after the eruption of the Arms Crisis. It is written by his son, Sean. Not surprisingly, it is partisan. It does, nevertheless, yield an insight into a perspective on Irish…
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Ducking all the hard questions.
The print edition of Village magazine posed a number of questions to Des O’Malley about the Arms Crisis but he ignored them. They arose out of an article he had published in the Sunday Independent in September. He also used that article as a platform to attack recent research on the crisis without addressing any…
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Sean Haughey
By David Burke. Deputy Sean Haughey has repeated his request for the release of certain Garda files from the Department of Justice. There is a lot more to his question than readily meets the eye. In the late 1960s and 1970s C3 was the most secretive and sensitive department within an Garda Síochána. It provided…
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Des O’Malley
UPDATE: Des O’Malley is going to reveal what he knowns about the new allegation that Seán MacStíofáin was a Garda informer in The Sunday Independent tomorrow. Hopefully, O’Malley will answer the 10 questions Village raised in the original version of this article In the event that O’Malley does not address these questions in The Sunday…
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Captain James Kelly’s family phone was tapped
By David Burke. The family phone of Captain James Kelly and his wife Sheila, in Terenure, Dublin, was tapped by the gardai in 1970. Captain Kelly was one of the Arms Trial defendants who went on trial 50 years ago this week. He was acquitted. It is inconceivable that Mícheál Ó Móráin, who served as…
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Seán Haughey TD.
By Michael Smith. Justice Minister Helen McEntee has confirmed the existence of secret and “sensitive’” Garda files relating to the Arms Crisis. She did not rule out releasing them in “appropriate” circumstances. Her comments were made on Tuesday evening in response to Seán Haughey TD of Fianna Fáil who was asking her to confirm that…
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Smear sheet.
By David Burke. Introduction. The Arms Trial opened fifty years ago later this month, 22 September. It has since become clear that the prosecution was one of the most tainted episodes in modern Irish legal history and that, more than anyone else, the former Taoiseach Jack Lynch was responsible for the sham. The prosecution which…
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Vandalising history.
By David Burke. Introduction. The story of the Arms Crisis is a perfectly simple one. It only becomes complicated when the lies, fantasies and myths that engulfed it are entertained as if serious. Only two participants in the débacle told the full, accurate and unvarnished truth: Captain James Kelly and Colonel Michael Hefferon, both dutiful…
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Dick Walsh’s covert committee monitored OIRA media enemies. Future Irish Times Assistant editor put colleagues on lists.
By David Burke. THE OFFICIAL IRA AND OFFICIAL SINN FÉIN The IRA fractured in December 1969 into what became known as the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA. Sinn Féin split along the same lines the following month. Before the division, the IRA had been led by IRA veterans such as Cathal Goulding, who was…
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Irish Times fraud.
The Assistant Editor of the Irish Times distorted the truth about the Arms Crisis. He was a friend of both the chief of staff of the Official IRA and the Taoiseach, ‘Honest’ Jack Lynch. The Official IRA had a vested interest in manipulating the story. Over time, the journalist portrayed Lynch as the hapless victim…
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The Forgotten Arms Crisis Scoop.
Séamas Ó Tuathail was the first journalist to discover details of what was to become known as the Arms Crisis but chose not to report it. Unbeknownst to him, some of the information he dug up was relayed to a British journalist by a talkative senior member of the IRA. The resulting British newspaper article…
