Tag: UVF
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Phoenix, Part IV.
The last edition of The Phoenix appeared on 5 June 2026. In this, the last of this series, we look at the spooky stories that appeared in The Phoenix in 2026. There were two articles about Sean O’Callaghan and the murder of John Cocoran. This is the second of the pair. There was a story…
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Bring Back The Phoenix, Part III. Check out 50 plus stories from 2025.
Continuing our campaign to bring back The Phoenix magazine, here is a selection of stories from 2025 which underline what we are missing. They cover MI5 and MI6 dirty tricks, neutrality, and much more besides. A selection from 2026 will appear next week. The PDF at the end of this article includes a selection of…
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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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Kitson’s foreknowledge of a third massacre.
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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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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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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Kincora
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Proverbs 31:8-9 (NLV) Judge Hughes said of his inquiry into Kincora Boys’ Home and other care homes, in the 1980s that, “The conduct of the police, or…
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The complexities of Loyalism. By Roy Garland.
A ginger group in the Orange Order known as “Cell” was led by Canon Ernest Long who said “Cell” was taken from the idea of a small seed that could influence a larger group. I assume the larger group was the Orange Order. William McGrath joined Cell in the 1960s and Canon Long, was uncomfortable…
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The strange death of Harry Breen. By Deirdre Younge.
In April 2017, Village magazine published this article by Deirdre Younge which revealed another side to Chief Superintendent Harry Breen of the RUC. Breen was shot dead by the IRA in 1989. He served as Commander H Division (Armagh and parts of Down) from March 1988 to ’89. His death was the subject of the…
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The Gathering Storm.
In this article, Roy Garland explains how Loyalist leaders such as William McGrath were making dire predictions about the intentions of the IRA as the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising approached. Roy Garland witnessed these developments at first hand. Soon, he was dedicating himself to the peace process believing in the “interconnectednes between everyone…
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Tara’s roots.
In this article, Roy Garland describes the origins of Tara, an armed Loyalist paramilitary organisation. Garland was once a member of Tara. It was led by William McGrath. Tara was once part of the Orange Order. It had supporters in the Republic of Ireland and later linked up with the UVF. There were also international…
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Returning the Serve, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974. [WebBook]
Introduction: Dublin City was rocked by three car bomb explosions on 17 May 1974. The devices detonated in a coordinated fashion at approximately 5.30; all within ninety seconds of each other. Twenty-six people and a full-term unborn child (Baby Doherty) were slaughtered. No warnings were provided. Ninety minutes later, a fourth car bomb exploded in…
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False flag.
In the September 2019 edition of Village magazine, Deirdre Younge described how MI5 fabricated a Loyalist arms importation to frighten the Dublin government. The MI5 ‘false flag’ operation was launched in 1993, on the verge of an IRA ceasefire Deirdre Younge was a reporter with Hibernia magazine and a Current Affairs Programmes Editor in RTE…
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From the Vaults: Billy Wright, 1996
In October 1996 Fortnight magazine published an article which asked: “What does Billy Wright think? Since the Combined Loyalist Military Command gave him the choice of exile or death, Wright has maintained that it is his thinking that got him into trouble with organisations he previously supported. Although he consistently denies that he is a…
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Gusty Spence
I met friends of Gusty Spence in the mid 1960s when I ran a small business that dad had formed in the early 1940s after I was born. I joined the Orange Order in the early 1960s, and often sat beside Gusty’s brother, who thought highly of him and said of someone who had criticised…
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The Collusion Spectrum. By Deirdre Younge.
In 2019 the BBC’s investigative ‘Spotlight’ programme added significantly to a body of evidence exposing widespread collusion across the Loyalist spectrum from the DUP to the UVF to MI5. Deirdre Younge revealed more in an article in Village magazine. It can be downloaded here:
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New Beginnings.
Roy Garland is the author of the biography of Gusty Spence, a founding member of the modern era UVF. After decades of violence, Spence embraced the peace process. In this article Roy Garland writes about some of the unlikely relationships which he saw blossom between former Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries, including Gusty Spence and Billy…
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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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Operation Kenova Part 1.
UPDATE: Freddie Scappaticci has passed away but Operation Kenova’s work goes on. Jon Boutcher’s first report is completed and on the PSNI’s ‘desk’. Now he is Chief Constable of the PSNI, Boutcher has left a decision on its publication to a designated police officer. SECOND UPDATE: The PSNI have announced they will publish Operation Kenova’s…
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An Offence Against The State
On 1 December 1972 a car bomb exploded beside Liberty Hall in Dublin. Fortunately no one died but George Bradshaw, a CIE bus driver, and Thomas Duffy, a bus conductor, perished in a second explosion at Sackville Place. No one has ever been charged with these crimes. The UVF belatedly claimed sole responsibility for them…
![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)
