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Internal Security Unit
The Internal Security Unit (ISU) was the counter-intelligence and interrogation unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). This unit was often referred to as the Nutting Squad. The unit is thought to have had jurisdiction over both Northern and Southern Commands of the IRA, (encompassing the whole of Ireland), and to have been directly attached to IRA General Headquarters (GHQ). Duties The group was believed to have had a number of briefs: * Security and character vetting of new recruits to the IRA, * Collecting and collating material on failed and compromised IRA operations, * Collecting and collating material on suspect or compromised individuals (informers), * Interrogation and debriefing of suspects and compromised individuals, * Carrying out killings and lesser punishments of those judged guilty by IRA courts martial. The ISU was believed to have unlimited access to the members, apparatus and resources of the IRA in carrying out its duties. Its remit could not be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or other intelligence activities conducted by, for, or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations or persons. Many countries will have multiple organisations focusing on a different aspect of counterintelligence, such as domestic, international, and counter-terrorism. Some states will formalise it as part of the police structure, such as the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Others will establish independent bodies, such as the United Kingdom's MI5, others have both intelligence and counterintelligence grouped under the same agency, like the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). History Modern tactics of espionage and dedicated government intelligence agencies developed over the course of the late-19th century. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the army of the all-island Irish Republic and as the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Irish republican movement. It was initially the minority faction in the split compared to the Official IRA, but became the dominant faction by 1972. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IRA Northern Command
Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland. IRA The IRA had difficulty with cross-border communications between Dublin and Belfast after the outbreak of the Second World War, and some northern based members of the IRA believed a self-contained unit was required. Charlie McGlade, a printer from Belfast, was the architect of the idea, and Northern Command was formed in 1939 taking responsibility for IRA operations in the six counties of Northern Ireland and also County Donegal, while Southern Command took responsibility for the other 25 counties of Ireland. By the early 1950s, both Northern Command and Southern Command had faded away, and the leadership of the IRA was southern-based, with all commands being issued from Dublin. Charlie McGlade became the O/C of the Northern Command, Jimmy Steele became Adjutant, also appointed was Seán McCaughey as Qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the List of islands of the British Isles, second-largest island of the British Isles, the List of European islands by area, third-largest in Europe, and the List of islands by area, twentieth-largest on Earth. Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2022, the Irish population analysis, population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million living in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the List of European islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Council had seven members, said by the British and Irish governments to have included Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin. The Independent Monitoring Commission declared in 2008 that the council was "no longer operational or functional," but that it had not dissolved. Background Origins The Army Council of the IRA split in December 1969 and a "Provisional" Army Council emerged as the head of the newly formed Provisional Irish Republican Army. Legal status The IRA was a proscribed organization under the terms of the Offences Against the State Acts passed between 1939 and 1998 in the Republic of Ireland and under equivalent anti-terrorist legislation in the United Kingdom, making membership of it a criminal offence. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deposition (law)
A deposition in the law of the United States, or examination for discovery in the law of Canada, involves the taking of sworn, out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that may be reduced to a written transcript for later use in court or for discovery purposes. Depositions are commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada. They are almost always conducted outside court by the lawyers themselves, with no judge present to supervise the examination. History Depositions by written interrogatories first appeared around the mid-15th century as a procedure for discovery, factfinding, and evidence preservation in suits in equity in English courts. Available through HeinOnline. They differed radically from modern depositions in three ways: (1) the party seeking a witness's testimony merely propounded written interrogatories which were read out loud by a master or court-appointed commissioner to the witness in a closed proceeding without parties or counsel present; (2) the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volunteer (Irish Republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Irish People's Liberation Organization (IPLO). ' is the equivalent title in the Irish language. Background The Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, in reaction to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force earlier that year, to protect the interests of Irish nationalists during the Home Rule Crisis. The Volunteers took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and—as the Irish Republican Army (IRA)—in the Irish War of Independence. The title "Volunteer" or "Vol." was used for members of the Volunteers, such as Michael Malone and Charles Monaghan, who were involved in the 1916 Rising, and in the War of Independence. A number of witness statements given to the Bureau of Military History make frequent use of "Volunteer" as a title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disappeared (Northern Ireland)
The Disappeared are people believed to have been abducted, murdered and secretly buried in Northern Ireland, the large majority of which occurred during the Troubles. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) is in charge of locating the remaining bodies, and was led by forensic archaeologist John McIlwaine. Background Of the sixteen people investigated by the ICLVR, all were Irish Catholics (Jean McConville was a convert), all except Jean McConville were male, and all are believed to have been abducted and killed by Irish Republicans. The Provisional IRA admitted to being involved in the forced disappearance of nine of the sixteen – Eamon Molloy, Seamus Wright, Kevin McKee, Jean McConville, Columba McVeigh, Brendan Megraw, John McClory, Brian McKinney, and Danny McIlhone. British Army officer Robert Nairac, who disappeared from South Armagh, was a Mauritius-born Roman Catholic. The organisation said they could only accurately locate the body of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stakeknife
"Stakeknife" is the code name of a high-level spy who successfully infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) while working for the top-secret Force Research Unit (FRU) of the British Army. Reports claim that Stakeknife worked for British intelligence for 25 years. Stakeknife has been accused of being a double agent who oversaw the murders of informers within the IRA while working for the British. British officials launched Operation Kenova to investigate these claims of state involvement in the kidnap, torture and murder of more than 50 individuals, leading to the arrest of Freddie Scappaticci in January 2018 on accusations that he was Stakeknife—a claim which Scappaticci denied. Activity "Stakeknife" had his own dedicated handlers and agents, and it was suggested that he was important enough that MI5 set up an office dedicated solely to him. Rumours suggested that he was being paid at least £80,000 a year and had a bank account in Gibraltar. Serious allegations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Scappaticci
Freddie Scappaticci (born c. 1946 Belfast) is a purported former high-level double agent in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), known by the codename " Stakeknife". Early life Scappaticci was born around 1946 and grew up in the Markets area of Belfast, the son of Daniel Scappaticci, an Italian immigrant to the city in the 1920s. In 1962, at the age of 16, he was encouraged to sign for the football club Nottingham Forest although his father is said to have resisted the idea. He took up work as a bricklayer. He was fined for riotous assembly in 1970 after being caught up in the Troubles and, a year later, was interned without trial at the age of 25 as part of Operation Demetrius. Among those interned with him were figures later to become prominent in the republican movement, such as Ivor Bell, Gerry Adams, and Alex Maskey. He was released from detention in 1974 and was by this time a member of the Provisional IRA. IRA career By 1980, Scappaticci was a lead member in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Fenton
Joseph "Joe" Fenton (c. 1953 – 26 February 1989) was an estate agent from Belfast, Northern Ireland, killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) for acting as an informer for RUC Special Branch. Activity as an informer In the early 1980s Fenton agreed to help the IRA and moved explosives from an arms dump to a safe house. He was then approached by officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Branch who said he could be prosecuted for the offence. The officers said if Fenton agreed to work for them as an informer he would not be prosecuted, and he would be paid in addition. After agreeing to a further meeting with the officers, Fenton tried to extricate himself from the situation by attempting to start a new life in Australia with his wife and four children.''The Dirty War'', p. 318. His immigration application was rejected by the Australian High Commission Consulate in Edinburgh, and Fenton started working as an informer for Special Branch in 1982. He started ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Joe McGee
John Joe McGee (died 2002, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland) was an IRA volunteer who was formerly in the British Special Boat Service. Background McGee had been a member of the Special Boat Service prior to joining the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s. He was a member of the Provisional IRA's 'nutting squad', the Internal Security Unit. He became its leader for around a decade between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. Between forty and fifty of those investigated by the unit were also executed as suspected informers or alleged British agents. Its sentences could only be countermanded by a member of the IRA Army Council. Members of the unit included Eamon Collins, Freddie Scappaticci, and " Kevin Fulton". During a court appearance, Fulton stated: In 1979 I was approached by the Intelligence Corps, a branch of the British Army, whilst serving with my regiment the Royal Irish Rangers in Northern Ireland. I was asked to infiltrate a terrorist group, namely the PIRA during this time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
