The Internal Security Unit (ISU) was the
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 ot ...
and interrogation unit of the
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 reu ...
(IRA). This unit was often referred to as the Nutting Squad.
The unit is thought to have had jurisdiction over both
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
and Southern Commands of the IRA, (encompassing the whole of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
), 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 countermanded except by order of the
Army Council.
Deposition
Deposition may refer to:
* Deposition (law), taking testimony outside of court
* Deposition (politics), the removal of a person of authority from political power
* Deposition (university), a widespread initiation ritual for new students practiced f ...
s obtained as part of its operation would ideally be noted on paper, and if possible recorded for the purposes of propaganda.
Activity
The ISU carried out debriefing of IRA
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
s following their detention by security forces operating in Northern Ireland. These interviews would take place to discover if a volunteer had betrayed information or secrets of the organisation. They would also take place in the event of an operation, weapons cache, or unit being exposed to danger or uncovered.
The membership of the IRA and wider republican community were expected to comply with requests for information made by the ISU, this information then being used to build or refute accusations made against an IRA volunteer.
See also
*
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 i ...
*
Stakeknife, a double agent thought to be
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 ...
*
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 1 ...
*
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 ...
*
Murders of Catherine and Gerard Mahon
Catherine and Gerard Mahon were a husband and wife who lived in Twinbrook, Belfast. Gerard, aged twenty-eight, was a mechanic; Catherine, was twenty-seven. They were killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 8 September 1985, the ...
*
Murder of Thomas Oliver
Thomas Oliver was a 43-year-old Irish farmer who was tortured and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in July 1991, reportedly for passing information to the Garda Síochána. However, in the wake of the Stakeknife case it began ...
References
Further information/sources
*
Ingram, Martin with Greg Harkin. ''"Stakeknife"''. Britain's secret agents in Ireland"'', O'Brien Press, 2004.
External links
"Victims were sacrificed by agent known as 'Stakeknife'" irishnews.com, 22 October 2015; accessed 3 August 2017.
Scappaticci profile theguardian.com, 12 May 2003.
cryptome.quintessenz.org, 19 February 2006.
Lengthy Interview given by Martin Ingram on Radio Free Éireann describing his FRU activities" NOTE, the interview begins after twenty-five minutes
{{PIRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army