“Today, people in Northern Ireland can expect a handful of the barest public services.” This statement is far from the reality of high public sector subsidies in Northern Ireland, Nearly 70% of the economy operates on state monies and the services are generally good if not better than England. The Kenova investigation came from a case brought by a legacy practitioner when a judge ruled the matter needed investigation by an independent police force. The head of Kenova says he has submitted a million pages of evidence to the Public Prosecution Service which explains why it is taking decades to decide on charges against MI5 or IRA personnel.
Perhaps it would been better(cheaper) to have continued the war to its logical conclusion?
Jeff Dudgeon
1 year ago
“Today, people in Northern Ireland can expect a handful of the barest public services.” This statement is far from the reality of high public sector subsidies in Northern Ireland, Nearly 70% of the economy operates on state monies and the services are generally good if not better than England. The Kenova investigation came from a case brought by a legacy practitioner when a judge ruled the matter needed investigation by an independent police force. The head of Kenova says he has submitted a million pages of evidence to the Public Prosecution Service which explains why it is taking decades to decide on charges against MI5 or IRA personnel.
Brendan O'Leary
1 year ago
Maybe he was just one of those gangster/informers who throws the security forces a bone now and then, as the price for his freedom to operate, and perhaps get rid of rivals.
Brendan O'Leary
1 year ago
Maybe he was just one of those gangster/informers who throws the security forces a bone now and then, as the price for his freedom to operate, and perhaps get rid of rivals.
CHARLES STANHOPE
1 year ago
It’s is only 0913 BST and the first two comments have already been censored!
Come on UnHerd you can better than this! You are setting yourself a low standard and yet even failing to achieve that!
Can’t resist the challenge to have a go now (it’s 09:50).
Really enjoyed (if that’s the right word for something about Northern Ireland troubles) this article. It certainly wasn’t obvious to me in the 1980s and 90s that Britain has infiltrated the IRA like this.
It does seem that the old school investigative journalists did most of the work uncovering this. Quite why we’re spending over £30m (and the meter’s still running) in official “investigations” here is beyond me though. Guess it creates jobs for lawyers. Meanwhile other parts of the justice system are short of skills and funds. Still, I’m sure “grievance studies” is more important than actually solving crimes and putting criminals away …
Millions more being spent on the so called ‘Legacy Investigations’, and as I scribble, the octogenarian Soldier F, of the Ist Battalion the Parachute Regiment is on trial in Belfast for his small part in that minor disturbance otherwise known a “Bloody Sunday “.
The deal was done by Adams and McGuinness who wanted those who did not approve of the peace agreement ‘ taken out’, so the info was passed on to the British, and the job was done….. The condition for being given the names was Republicans being let out of prison post the agreement OR Adams and McGuinness would make ” the deal” public…. then the US intervened and the helicopter crash on Isle of Mull mysteriously crashed, so conveniently wiping out all in British Intelligence who had done said deal, at the instigation of the US… betrayal to appease the US.
Millions more being spent on the so called ‘Legacy Investigations’, and as I scribble, the octogenarian Soldier F, of the Ist Battalion the Parachute Regiment is on trial in Belfast for his small part in that minor disturbance otherwise known a “Bloody Sunday “.
The deal was done by Adams and McGuinness who wanted those who did not approve of the peace agreement ‘ taken out’, so the info was passed on to the British, and the job was done….. The condition for being given the names was Republicans being let out of prison post the agreement OR Adams and McGuinness would make ” the deal” public…. then the US intervened and the helicopter crash on Isle of Mull mysteriously crashed, so conveniently wiping out all in British Intelligence who had done said deal, at the instigation of the US… betrayal to appease the US.
Can’t resist the challenge to have a go now (it’s 09:50).
Really enjoyed (if that’s the right word for something about Northern Ireland troubles) this article. It certainly wasn’t obvious to me in the 1980s and 90s that Britain has infiltrated the IRA like this.
It does seem that the old school investigative journalists did most of the work uncovering this. Quite why we’re spending over £30m (and the meter’s still running) in official “investigations” here is beyond me though. Guess it creates jobs for lawyers. Meanwhile other parts of the justice system are short of skills and funds. Still, I’m sure “grievance studies” is more important than actually solving crimes and putting criminals away …
CHARLES STANHOPE
1 year ago
It’s is only 0913 BST and the first two comments have already been censored!
Come on UnHerd you can better than this! You are setting yourself a low standard and yet even failing to achieve that!
ps.Common sense prevails at 0949 BST.
Last edited 1 year ago by CHARLES STANHOPE
Nicky Samengo-Turner
1 year ago
The entire Conservative cabinet should be termed ” Holdsteaknifelikepen”…
What are your views on Roy Mason as Secretary for N Ireland ? McGuiness said he kicked the s.. out of the PIRA and was three weeks from defeating them.
What are your views on Roy Mason as Secretary for N Ireland ? McGuiness said he kicked the s.. out of the PIRA and was three weeks from defeating them.
Nicky Samengo-Turner
1 year ago
The entire Conservative cabinet should be termed ” Holdsteaknifelikepen”…
David Lindsay
1 year ago
As Freddie Scappaticci dies, Derry Boys who have probably never heard of him are throwing petrol bombs at the Police. The United Kingdom is going to be the worst-performing economy in the G7 this year, so a lid needs to be kept on any popular dissent. It is time for a security emergency, thanks to one or both of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the dissident Republicans. If those did not exist, then our rulers would have to invent them. And at different times, those did not used to exist.
Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries have always been heavily involved in traditional organised crime in general, and in drug-dealing in particular, leading to generations of professional and social interaction of the kind that also takes place routinely among, for example, rival Mafia families, as well, as of course, the sort of merciless bloodshed that goes on in that world.
There has never been any secret that the Loyalist organisations were off-the-books arms of the British State, while the old IRA was also riddled from top to bottom with Police informants, MI5 assets, and so on, as was the Real IRA, and as at least has been the much older Continuity IRA, which goes back to the split over abstentionism in 1986. The recent documentaries about David Rupert, and about “Robert” by the superlative Peter Taylor, undeniably broke ground, and were a reminder of how good the BBC could be, but they could not have surprised anyone.
And early last month, four Protestants, at least one with known Loyalist paramilitary connections, were arrested in relation to the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, for which the New IRA had already claimed responsibility. There has always been a school of thought that the New IRA was a false flag operation. There has never been any doubt as to the true nature of the likes of the UDA, the UVF, and Ulster Resistance, which provided the then Queen’s Government with confidence and supply from 2017 to 2019. Across that ostensible divide, it is all heating up over there just as it is all threatening to heat up, by our standards, over here.
No idea why you got so many negative votes, David but your final analysis is wide of the mark. The shooting of the PSNI man and the ongoing loyalist feud in Newtownards show just how marginal these people are. NI won’t be going back to the old days simply because people just don’t care enough anymore
Indeed why should they.?
All the poverty and gerrymandering has been removed and now it’s time for the fabled ‘Craic’ or “Nunc est bibendum “ as others might say!
Indeed why should they.?
All the poverty and gerrymandering has been removed and now it’s time for the fabled ‘Craic’ or “Nunc est bibendum “ as others might say!
No idea why you got so many negative votes, David but your final analysis is wide of the mark. The shooting of the PSNI man and the ongoing loyalist feud in Newtownards show just how marginal these people are. NI won’t be going back to the old days simply because people just don’t care enough anymore
David Lindsay
1 year ago
As Freddie Scappaticci dies, Derry Boys who have probably never heard of him are throwing petrol bombs at the Police. The United Kingdom is going to be the worst-performing economy in the G7 this year, so a lid needs to be kept on any popular dissent. It is time for a security emergency, thanks to one or both of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the dissident Republicans. If those did not exist, then our rulers would have to invent them. And at different times, those did not used to exist.
Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries have always been heavily involved in traditional organised crime in general, and in drug-dealing in particular, leading to generations of professional and social interaction of the kind that also takes place routinely among, for example, rival Mafia families, as well, as of course, the sort of merciless bloodshed that goes on in that world.
There has never been any secret that the Loyalist organisations were off-the-books arms of the British State, while the old IRA was also riddled from top to bottom with Police informants, MI5 assets, and so on, as was the Real IRA, and as at least has been the much older Continuity IRA, which goes back to the split over abstentionism in 1986. The recent documentaries about David Rupert, and about “Robert” by the superlative Peter Taylor, undeniably broke ground, and were a reminder of how good the BBC could be, but they could not have surprised anyone.
And early last month, four Protestants, at least one with known Loyalist paramilitary connections, were arrested in relation to the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, for which the New IRA had already claimed responsibility. There has always been a school of thought that the New IRA was a false flag operation. There has never been any doubt as to the true nature of the likes of the UDA, the UVF, and Ulster Resistance, which provided the then Queen’s Government with confidence and supply from 2017 to 2019. Across that ostensible divide, it is all heating up over there just as it is all threatening to heat up, by our standards, over here.
“Today, people in Northern Ireland can expect a handful of the barest public services.” This statement is far from the reality of high public sector subsidies in Northern Ireland, Nearly 70% of the economy operates on state monies and the services are generally good if not better than England. The Kenova investigation came from a case brought by a legacy practitioner when a judge ruled the matter needed investigation by an independent police force. The head of Kenova says he has submitted a million pages of evidence to the Public Prosecution Service which explains why it is taking decades to decide on charges against MI5 or IRA personnel.
Perhaps it would been better(cheaper) to have continued the war to its logical conclusion?
Perhaps it would been better(cheaper) to have continued the war to its logical conclusion?
“Today, people in Northern Ireland can expect a handful of the barest public services.” This statement is far from the reality of high public sector subsidies in Northern Ireland, Nearly 70% of the economy operates on state monies and the services are generally good if not better than England. The Kenova investigation came from a case brought by a legacy practitioner when a judge ruled the matter needed investigation by an independent police force. The head of Kenova says he has submitted a million pages of evidence to the Public Prosecution Service which explains why it is taking decades to decide on charges against MI5 or IRA personnel.
Maybe he was just one of those gangster/informers who throws the security forces a bone now and then, as the price for his freedom to operate, and perhaps get rid of rivals.
Maybe he was just one of those gangster/informers who throws the security forces a bone now and then, as the price for his freedom to operate, and perhaps get rid of rivals.
It’s is only 0913 BST and the first two comments have already been censored!
Come on UnHerd you can better than this! You are setting yourself a low standard and yet even failing to achieve that!
ps.Common sense prevails at 0949 BST.
Can’t resist the challenge to have a go now (it’s 09:50).
Really enjoyed (if that’s the right word for something about Northern Ireland troubles) this article. It certainly wasn’t obvious to me in the 1980s and 90s that Britain has infiltrated the IRA like this.
It does seem that the old school investigative journalists did most of the work uncovering this. Quite why we’re spending over £30m (and the meter’s still running) in official “investigations” here is beyond me though. Guess it creates jobs for lawyers. Meanwhile other parts of the justice system are short of skills and funds. Still, I’m sure “grievance studies” is more important than actually solving crimes and putting criminals away …
Millions more being spent on the so called ‘Legacy Investigations’, and as I scribble, the octogenarian Soldier F, of the Ist Battalion the Parachute Regiment is on trial in Belfast for his small part in that minor disturbance otherwise known a “Bloody Sunday “.
The deal was done by Adams and McGuinness who wanted those who did not approve of the peace agreement ‘ taken out’, so the info was passed on to the British, and the job was done….. The condition for being given the names was Republicans being let out of prison post the agreement OR Adams and McGuinness would make ” the deal” public…. then the US intervened and the helicopter crash on Isle of Mull mysteriously crashed, so conveniently wiping out all in British Intelligence who had done said deal, at the instigation of the US… betrayal to appease the US.
We’ve been doing that since at least 1916 and the dreaded Balfour Declaration.
For all of this I assume that you have some backing information and references, so could you please post this information here.
Cool story, bro. But you need to put some flesh on the bones.
We’ve been doing that since at least 1916 and the dreaded Balfour Declaration.
For all of this I assume that you have some backing information and references, so could you please post this information here.
Cool story, bro. But you need to put some flesh on the bones.
Millions more being spent on the so called ‘Legacy Investigations’, and as I scribble, the octogenarian Soldier F, of the Ist Battalion the Parachute Regiment is on trial in Belfast for his small part in that minor disturbance otherwise known a “Bloody Sunday “.
The deal was done by Adams and McGuinness who wanted those who did not approve of the peace agreement ‘ taken out’, so the info was passed on to the British, and the job was done….. The condition for being given the names was Republicans being let out of prison post the agreement OR Adams and McGuinness would make ” the deal” public…. then the US intervened and the helicopter crash on Isle of Mull mysteriously crashed, so conveniently wiping out all in British Intelligence who had done said deal, at the instigation of the US… betrayal to appease the US.
Can’t resist the challenge to have a go now (it’s 09:50).
Really enjoyed (if that’s the right word for something about Northern Ireland troubles) this article. It certainly wasn’t obvious to me in the 1980s and 90s that Britain has infiltrated the IRA like this.
It does seem that the old school investigative journalists did most of the work uncovering this. Quite why we’re spending over £30m (and the meter’s still running) in official “investigations” here is beyond me though. Guess it creates jobs for lawyers. Meanwhile other parts of the justice system are short of skills and funds. Still, I’m sure “grievance studies” is more important than actually solving crimes and putting criminals away …
It’s is only 0913 BST and the first two comments have already been censored!
Come on UnHerd you can better than this! You are setting yourself a low standard and yet even failing to achieve that!
ps.Common sense prevails at 0949 BST.
The entire Conservative cabinet should be termed ” Holdsteaknifelikepen”…
Oops.. ‘ herfended 2 pipl on the settee in the leounge parlour….
Funny now I understand the language of ‘Finnegans Wake’
Funny now I understand the language of ‘Finnegans Wake’
What are your views on Roy Mason as Secretary for N Ireland ? McGuiness said he kicked the s.. out of the PIRA and was three weeks from defeating them.
Oops.. ‘ herfended 2 pipl on the settee in the leounge parlour….
What are your views on Roy Mason as Secretary for N Ireland ? McGuiness said he kicked the s.. out of the PIRA and was three weeks from defeating them.
The entire Conservative cabinet should be termed ” Holdsteaknifelikepen”…
As Freddie Scappaticci dies, Derry Boys who have probably never heard of him are throwing petrol bombs at the Police. The United Kingdom is going to be the worst-performing economy in the G7 this year, so a lid needs to be kept on any popular dissent. It is time for a security emergency, thanks to one or both of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the dissident Republicans. If those did not exist, then our rulers would have to invent them. And at different times, those did not used to exist.
Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries have always been heavily involved in traditional organised crime in general, and in drug-dealing in particular, leading to generations of professional and social interaction of the kind that also takes place routinely among, for example, rival Mafia families, as well, as of course, the sort of merciless bloodshed that goes on in that world.
There has never been any secret that the Loyalist organisations were off-the-books arms of the British State, while the old IRA was also riddled from top to bottom with Police informants, MI5 assets, and so on, as was the Real IRA, and as at least has been the much older Continuity IRA, which goes back to the split over abstentionism in 1986. The recent documentaries about David Rupert, and about “Robert” by the superlative Peter Taylor, undeniably broke ground, and were a reminder of how good the BBC could be, but they could not have surprised anyone.
And early last month, four Protestants, at least one with known Loyalist paramilitary connections, were arrested in relation to the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, for which the New IRA had already claimed responsibility. There has always been a school of thought that the New IRA was a false flag operation. There has never been any doubt as to the true nature of the likes of the UDA, the UVF, and Ulster Resistance, which provided the then Queen’s Government with confidence and supply from 2017 to 2019. Across that ostensible divide, it is all heating up over there just as it is all threatening to heat up, by our standards, over here.
Peter Taylor’s reassessment of so called ‘Bloody Sunday’ certainly wasn’t ’superlative’ nor was Saville’s participation in it..
No idea why you got so many negative votes, David but your final analysis is wide of the mark. The shooting of the PSNI man and the ongoing loyalist feud in Newtownards show just how marginal these people are. NI won’t be going back to the old days simply because people just don’t care enough anymore
They don’t need to. Those Police and MI5 vehicles just have to be there. However small they are, they serve their purpose.
Indeed why should they.?
All the poverty and gerrymandering has been removed and now it’s time for the fabled ‘Craic’ or “Nunc est bibendum “ as others might say!
They don’t need to. Those Police and MI5 vehicles just have to be there. However small they are, they serve their purpose.
Indeed why should they.?
All the poverty and gerrymandering has been removed and now it’s time for the fabled ‘Craic’ or “Nunc est bibendum “ as others might say!
Peter Taylor’s reassessment of so called ‘Bloody Sunday’ certainly wasn’t ’superlative’ nor was Saville’s participation in it..
No idea why you got so many negative votes, David but your final analysis is wide of the mark. The shooting of the PSNI man and the ongoing loyalist feud in Newtownards show just how marginal these people are. NI won’t be going back to the old days simply because people just don’t care enough anymore
As Freddie Scappaticci dies, Derry Boys who have probably never heard of him are throwing petrol bombs at the Police. The United Kingdom is going to be the worst-performing economy in the G7 this year, so a lid needs to be kept on any popular dissent. It is time for a security emergency, thanks to one or both of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the dissident Republicans. If those did not exist, then our rulers would have to invent them. And at different times, those did not used to exist.
Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries have always been heavily involved in traditional organised crime in general, and in drug-dealing in particular, leading to generations of professional and social interaction of the kind that also takes place routinely among, for example, rival Mafia families, as well, as of course, the sort of merciless bloodshed that goes on in that world.
There has never been any secret that the Loyalist organisations were off-the-books arms of the British State, while the old IRA was also riddled from top to bottom with Police informants, MI5 assets, and so on, as was the Real IRA, and as at least has been the much older Continuity IRA, which goes back to the split over abstentionism in 1986. The recent documentaries about David Rupert, and about “Robert” by the superlative Peter Taylor, undeniably broke ground, and were a reminder of how good the BBC could be, but they could not have surprised anyone.
And early last month, four Protestants, at least one with known Loyalist paramilitary connections, were arrested in relation to the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, for which the New IRA had already claimed responsibility. There has always been a school of thought that the New IRA was a false flag operation. There has never been any doubt as to the true nature of the likes of the UDA, the UVF, and Ulster Resistance, which provided the then Queen’s Government with confidence and supply from 2017 to 2019. Across that ostensible divide, it is all heating up over there just as it is all threatening to heat up, by our standards, over here.