Martin Ingram
Encyclopedia
Martin Ingram is the pseudonym
of an ex-British Army
soldier who served in the Intelligence Corps and Force Research Unit
(FRU). He has made a number of allegations about the conduct of the British Army
, its operations in Northern Ireland
via the FRU, and against figures in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) and Sinn Féin
.
Ingram spent two or three months in the SCT before he engineered himself a more interesting posting in G2. After a brief spell working on Loyalist paramilitaries he was transferred to the Derry Republican desk. Officer "Y" was Ingram’s immediate superior whilst on the Loyalist Desk. Ingram had a level one password which gave him full access to all the intelligence on the 3702 database. This meant he had access to source material from RUC Special Branch, the FRU and some MI5 and MI6 material. MI5 and MI6 source reports were not entered onto the database but in some cases the actual intelligence from these source reports was entered. At the time MI5 was not a big player in running agents in Northern Ireland. All HQNI intelligence staff had level one passwords. This was between 10 and 20 people. Ingram was a collator and worked directly to his GSO2 desk officer. He would see perhaps six or seven files a week and these might contain one or two Security Service documents. He saw these files so that he would be kept up to date on developments. MI5 had very few agents in Northern Ireland at this time. So far as he was aware there was no sifting of documents before they were circulated within G2. There was also a personality card index which contained detailed information of people of interest. Martin McGuinness
would certainly have been on the index. In addition to personal information it also referred to relevant intelligence reports.
. Because of a shortage of agent handlers Ingram acted as a "co-handler" for some agents. He saw intelligence from all agencies with relevance to his area. Ingram states that the FRU had access to a "massive budget" and "freedom to operate outside the structures which report directly to the RUC." The FRU is thought to have over one hundred agents in place within paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, agents which have been in place for over twenty years. The Force Research Unit
has been implicated in the murder of at least 4 civilian Roman Catholics, the killing of a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) members, and the killing of two senior loyalist paramilitaries.
Mr. Ingram claims he had access to screening reports for old agents whilst at FRU(N) even though they were no longer used by the time he was in Ireland. The screening reports used to be prepared when an agent was first recruited. These were kept so that FRU could circumvent the RUC’s prohibition on recruiting new agents. New agents had to be screened unless they were former army personnel, as in the case of Brian Nelson, or were old agents being re-activated. It was to allow re-activation of old agents, without a fresh screening, that FRU kept old screening reports. Originally agents were run on a fragmented basis with Field Intelligence NCOs (FINCOs), part of the Intelligence Corps, reporting to the local Brigade. The system was centralised by creating the FRU. The FRU took over all existing agents and therefore had to have access to all the existing agent files.
and on his return he requested to attend a course at Repton Manor in Ashford, Kent
. This included "agent running". He was then posted back to Northern Ireland at St. Angelo near Enniskillen
. His posting was to augment the small detachment in response to the Enniskillen bombing. This unit was commanded by FRU(N). He remained at St. Angelo until 26 September 1990. His last report included a recommendation for promotion from Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier) Gordon Kerr of the FRU. He was posted to the Ministry of Defence in London at his own request where he joined the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS). He held an Enhanced Positive Vetting (EPV) position working primarily on the Israel
and Syria
desks. EPV was at the time the highest clearance, giving access to Top Secret material.
Ingram notified Army Vetting of his intention to marry (into a County Donegal
Irish republican family) and this created difficulties with his clearance. He effectively had to choose between his army career and his fiancée. He therefore applied for and received premature voluntary retirement. In a letter dated 8 May 2003, the MoD sought to suggest Mr. Ingram did not join the FRU until late 1993 but Ingram disputed this.
. This is because Ingram is frequently critical of the leadership Sinn Féin has given the republican movement. This criticism has become more vocal since the killing of British agent Denis Donaldson
as a result of "Stormontgate
". Republicans are also critical because Ingram's claims about the British Government involving themselves in the activities of Loyalist
paramilitaries i.e., Collusion, have been quite common for many years, and something which the republican movement has sought to have investigated. The suspicion is that Ingram may be engaged in black propaganda
, (sometimes called "Dirty Tricks"), self promotion, or some other form of conspiracy aimed at damaging Sinn Féin and the wider republican movement.
Some of the allegations Ingram makes in his 2004 book "Stakeknife" have been aired before. Allegations previously made during "the Troubles
" are quoted at length, notably those in Eamon Collins
book, Killing Rage, and those aired in the British TV programme "The Cook Report". This has led to accusations that he is recycling second or third hand knowledge heard from higher placed colleagues in the FRU. Ingram has protested his innocence in the face of all these allegations. He maintains that he has to protect his own life, that he still retains contacts within the republican movement, and says that his experiences operating in Ireland, operating alongside Loyalists, and his marriage into a strongly republican County Donegal
family have convinced him that the partition of Ireland is wrong. He claims to be a republican although some commentators have expressed surprise at this "Road to Damascus" conversion after more than ten years working as a British agent. This has led one skeptic to ask:
There is also surprise at Ingram's claims that he "would have no problem with 99% of FRU's activities". This could indicate that he still wishes to/or does retain a connection to the British military. Due to the sensitivity of his allegations he is eligible for prosecution under the Official Secrets Act
but so far he has not been successfully prosecuted by the British military authorities for making his allegations. It is also worth noting that disinformation and the use of one FRU controlled IRA agent to smear another is a tactic which Ingram acknowledged. He has described this process as: "using your own agents to sow those seeds and from small acorns grow."
However, Ingram made his allegations after he was discharged from the British Army. Following this he was arrested under the Official Secrets Act, his house was burgled and he was injuncted against making any further allegations drawing on his military service.
"- an operation involving both MI6 & MI5
agents. There have also been whistleblowers before. In the case of "Clockwork Orange" the operation was unmasked after revelations by Colin Wallace
in the 1970s. There also existed an MI6 honeypot for active pedophiles at Kincora boy's home
during the 1970s. The Kincora home was used to blackmail and subvert prominent establishment figures in Northern Ireland via surveillance. Allegations of dirty tricks also surfaced with MI6 agent Fred Holroyd
in the 1970s and 1980s who alleged that the truce talks with the IRA around the mid 1970s had been derailed deliberately by the British Intelligence services via a campaign Loyalist assassinations which they sponsored and controlled. With this track record in mind, it has been argued that Ingram is practicing disinformation. On the other hand the fact that he was arrested and injuncted and his case was taken up by human rights groups after his original Sunday Times allegations argues against this. He also gave evidence against the British army version of events and in favour of Martin McGuinness
at the Bloody Sunday
Tribunal.
Ingram claims that Nelson was used by his handlers to assassinate Pat Finucane
, a human rights lawyer in Belfast who had been active in defending republican defendants in court. He also alleges that Nelson was used by the FRU to import weapons into Northern Ireland for use by loyalist paramilitaries, weapons subsequently split between the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and Ulster Resistance
(a group initially backed by Ian Paisley
).
In Finucane's murder he also implicates a Special Branch informer in the UDA, Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle
, who was the Commander of the organisation in West Belfast. However, while Ingram makes the allegation that the FRU targeted Finucane via Nelson, he says it was up to the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) to act on this information and prevent his murder.
" alleged to be Alfredo "Freddie" Scappaticci (of the IRA's Internal Security Unit
(ISU)). A claim denied by Scappaticci. This was done via the assassination of World War II
era internee Francisco Notarantonio. Freddie Scappaticci
is said to have volunteered his services as a spy in the late 1970s and that he eventually become the "crown jewels" (the best) in the hierarchy of British Intelligence IRA assets.
At least some of these killings being carried out with the prior knowledge, and possible complicity of his FRU handlers. Ingram also alleges that Scappaticci was complicit with his FRU handlers in the deaths of other FRU agents within the IRA.
president Gerry Adams
in 1984 was as a direct result of British Intelligence and the activities of the FRU. FRU agent Brian Nelson is said to have warned his FRU handlers of the impending attack and Ingram alleges that the FRU then proceeded to tamper with the ammunition that was to be used. The ammunition was altered to decrease its velocity, effectively rendering it useless although it would appear to fire as normal ammunition.
The attack, when it took place, was from the range of around 5 feet and involved three gunmen but Adams survived, but with serious wounds. He fully recovered. His attackers were almost instantly arrested by nearby Special Branch officers who, Ingram says, were waiting for the attack to fail. The episode, says Ingram, is an indication that British Intelligence wanted Adams' life spared.
, Martin McGuinness
is a British Army agent. He first made these allegations public on Cryptome at the end of 2005, and later made these allegations in February 2006 on the ultranationalist, anti-Good Friday Agreement Radio Free Eireann, a republican orientated internet radio show based in New York City
. The allegations began with the circumstances surrounding the death of IRA volunteer and FRU asset Frank Hegarty, who was encouraged by his handlers to penetrate the IRA. Following this encouragement he rose to a position of responsibility and was given control over a IRA arms dump which was subsequently discovered - the largest find by Gardaí on the island of Ireland. Ingram has continually alleged that McGuinness was involved in Hegarty's death and that he was killed to protect a higher placed FRU agent. These allegations were then reiterated in the British Houses of Parliament by a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.
On 28 May 2006 the Sunday World
newspaper based in Dublin published further allegations emanating from Ingram. The story concentrated on an undated document purporting to be a transcript of a conversation between McGuinness and an MI6 agent circa 1990. The document describes a conversation in which the IRA "proxy bomb" strategy is discussed- the "proxy bomb
" being a method of attack where a human being is strapped into an explosive packed vehicle, then forced to drive to a British Army vehicle checkpoint before detonation.
The document described a meeting between J118 (Ingram claims this was McGuinness's codename) and a figure described as "G" (the British Intelligence handler). In the document J118 says that everyone was "geared up for it" (the proxy bomb campaign). "G" also tells J118 not to worry about IRA members who wanted to take the human bomb campaign to Belfast, adding: "We will look after things in that department, you just concentrate on the checkpoints."
Ingram's central claim in the interview is that the handlers for J118 encouraged the IRA to engage in the "proxy bomb" campaign to provoke a wave of revulsion at the attacks thus triggering a political and security backlash against the organisation. Ingram suggests that the five British soldiers killed in the first attack were sacrificed as a "means to an end". Ingram is also quoted as saying:
Ending his interview in the Sunday World Ingram states:
McGuinness has strenuously denied all the claims made against him.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of an ex-British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
soldier who served in the Intelligence Corps and Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit is alleged to be a name used by a covert military intelligence unit established by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army based at Templer Barracks, Ashford in Kent. The FRU is alleged to have been formed between 1980 and 1981...
(FRU). He has made a number of allegations about the conduct of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, its operations in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
via the FRU, and against figures in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
.
Military career
Ingram, real name Ian Hurst, served two tours of Northern Ireland working for Army Intelligence between 1981 - 1990. Ingram joined the Intelligence Corps in 1980. In 1981, after training, he joined 121 Intelligence Section as a Lance Corporal. 121 Intelligence Section were based at Head Quarters Northern Ireland (HQNI). The unit supplied intelligence support for the General Officer Commanding (GOC) and Commander Land Forces (CLF). They were attached to G2, the intelligence wing of HQNI. G2 desk officers were graded GSO2 or GSO3 and were captains or majors. Ingram began in the 3 Special Collation Team (SCT) whose sole function was inputting RUC Special Branch intelligence reports, known as SB50s or RIRACS (RUC Intelligence Report and Comment), onto the army 3702 computer system. This was a boring job done in shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The RUC did not want their reports filed on computer so they were not told of the practice. SB50s were photocopied and circulated within G2. The originals were formally recorded in the HQNI Registry by being entered in the MoD Form 102 books. This was the official procedure whereby a secret document is recorded as having been received and filed in a particular place. The photocopies were not entered because the SB50s should not have been copied or the information entered in the computer.Ingram spent two or three months in the SCT before he engineered himself a more interesting posting in G2. After a brief spell working on Loyalist paramilitaries he was transferred to the Derry Republican desk. Officer "Y" was Ingram’s immediate superior whilst on the Loyalist Desk. Ingram had a level one password which gave him full access to all the intelligence on the 3702 database. This meant he had access to source material from RUC Special Branch, the FRU and some MI5 and MI6 material. MI5 and MI6 source reports were not entered onto the database but in some cases the actual intelligence from these source reports was entered. At the time MI5 was not a big player in running agents in Northern Ireland. All HQNI intelligence staff had level one passwords. This was between 10 and 20 people. Ingram was a collator and worked directly to his GSO2 desk officer. He would see perhaps six or seven files a week and these might contain one or two Security Service documents. He saw these files so that he would be kept up to date on developments. MI5 had very few agents in Northern Ireland at this time. So far as he was aware there was no sifting of documents before they were circulated within G2. There was also a personality card index which contained detailed information of people of interest. Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
would certainly have been on the index. In addition to personal information it also referred to relevant intelligence reports.
FRU North
In 1982 Ingram was posted to the north detachment of the Force Research Unit (FRU(N)). The FRU was divided into three sections: Headquarters West, based in Derry; FRU(N), also in Derry and FRO(W) in Belfast. He was promoted to Corporal and his job was to analyse and collate reports generated by FRU agent handlers following their meetings with Derry agents. His detachment commander was a major who subsequently died on the Chinook helicopter which crashed on the Mull of KintyreMull of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast is visible and an historic lighthouse, the second commissioned in Scotland, guides shipping in the intervening North Channel...
. Because of a shortage of agent handlers Ingram acted as a "co-handler" for some agents. He saw intelligence from all agencies with relevance to his area. Ingram states that the FRU had access to a "massive budget" and "freedom to operate outside the structures which report directly to the RUC." The FRU is thought to have over one hundred agents in place within paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, agents which have been in place for over twenty years. The Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit is alleged to be a name used by a covert military intelligence unit established by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army based at Templer Barracks, Ashford in Kent. The FRU is alleged to have been formed between 1980 and 1981...
has been implicated in the murder of at least 4 civilian Roman Catholics, the killing of a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) members, and the killing of two senior loyalist paramilitaries.
Mr. Ingram claims he had access to screening reports for old agents whilst at FRU(N) even though they were no longer used by the time he was in Ireland. The screening reports used to be prepared when an agent was first recruited. These were kept so that FRU could circumvent the RUC’s prohibition on recruiting new agents. New agents had to be screened unless they were former army personnel, as in the case of Brian Nelson, or were old agents being re-activated. It was to allow re-activation of old agents, without a fresh screening, that FRU kept old screening reports. Originally agents were run on a fragmented basis with Field Intelligence NCOs (FINCOs), part of the Intelligence Corps, reporting to the local Brigade. The system was centralised by creating the FRU. The FRU took over all existing agents and therefore had to have access to all the existing agent files.
End of army career
Ingram left Derry/FRU(N) in late 1984 when he was posted to deal with counter terrorism in Britain. In mid 1987 he was posted to BelizeBelize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
and on his return he requested to attend a course at Repton Manor in Ashford, Kent
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
. This included "agent running". He was then posted back to Northern Ireland at St. Angelo near Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
. His posting was to augment the small detachment in response to the Enniskillen bombing. This unit was commanded by FRU(N). He remained at St. Angelo until 26 September 1990. His last report included a recommendation for promotion from Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier) Gordon Kerr of the FRU. He was posted to the Ministry of Defence in London at his own request where he joined the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS). He held an Enhanced Positive Vetting (EPV) position working primarily on the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
desks. EPV was at the time the highest clearance, giving access to Top Secret material.
Ingram notified Army Vetting of his intention to marry (into a County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
Irish republican family) and this created difficulties with his clearance. He effectively had to choose between his army career and his fiancée. He therefore applied for and received premature voluntary retirement. In a letter dated 8 May 2003, the MoD sought to suggest Mr. Ingram did not join the FRU until late 1993 but Ingram disputed this.
Credibility and motivation
It is worth mentioning as a preliminary caveat that there is a great deal of suspicion of Ingram and his allegations. This suspicion is particularly acute amongst republicans, and even more so amongst republicans supportive of Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. This is because Ingram is frequently critical of the leadership Sinn Féin has given the republican movement. This criticism has become more vocal since the killing of British agent Denis Donaldson
Denis Donaldson
Denis Martin Donaldson was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army and a member of Sinn Féin who was exposed in December 2005 as an informer in the employment of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Denis Martin Donaldson (Short Strand, Belfast,...
as a result of "Stormontgate
Stormontgate
Stormontgate is the name given to the controversy surrounding an alleged Provisional Irish Republican Army spy-ring and intelligence gathering operation based in Stormont, the parliament building of Northern Ireland...
". Republicans are also critical because Ingram's claims about the British Government involving themselves in the activities of Loyalist
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
paramilitaries i.e., Collusion, have been quite common for many years, and something which the republican movement has sought to have investigated. The suspicion is that Ingram may be engaged in black propaganda
Black propaganda
Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy...
, (sometimes called "Dirty Tricks"), self promotion, or some other form of conspiracy aimed at damaging Sinn Féin and the wider republican movement.
Some of the allegations Ingram makes in his 2004 book "Stakeknife" have been aired before. Allegations previously made during "the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
" are quoted at length, notably those in Eamon Collins
Eamon Collins
Eamon Collins was a Provisional Irish Republican Army activist in the late 1970s and 1980s. He turned his back on the organisation in the late 1980s and later co-authored a book called Killing Rage telling of his experiences in the IRA...
book, Killing Rage, and those aired in the British TV programme "The Cook Report". This has led to accusations that he is recycling second or third hand knowledge heard from higher placed colleagues in the FRU. Ingram has protested his innocence in the face of all these allegations. He maintains that he has to protect his own life, that he still retains contacts within the republican movement, and says that his experiences operating in Ireland, operating alongside Loyalists, and his marriage into a strongly republican County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
family have convinced him that the partition of Ireland is wrong. He claims to be a republican although some commentators have expressed surprise at this "Road to Damascus" conversion after more than ten years working as a British agent. This has led one skeptic to ask:
"Does nobody remember when a Sunday paper was carrying the story that Gerry KellyGerry KellyGerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998...
was conducting an affair with George MitchellGeorge MitchellGeorge Mitchell may refer to:*George J. Mitchell , former Senator from Maine, special envoy to the Middle East for the Obama administration, former Senate majority leader and former chairman of Disney...
's aide Martha Pope? The truth was they'd never met. That story turned out to have originated with British Intelligence too. I find it hard to believe that people would be so credulous to believe a story with such a dodgy source, but I suppose some people just have a problem with Sinn Féin, and so will clutch at any straw. What next? Gerry Adams Ate My HamsterFreddie StarrFreddie Starr is an English comedian who became famous in the early 1970s. He is also an impressionist and singer, with a chart album After the Laughter and UK Top 10 single, "It's You", in March 1974 to his credit.-Early career:Under his real name, he appeared as a teenager in the film Violent...
?"
There is also surprise at Ingram's claims that he "would have no problem with 99% of FRU's activities". This could indicate that he still wishes to/or does retain a connection to the British military. Due to the sensitivity of his allegations he is eligible for prosecution under the Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act
The Official Secrets Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India and Malaysia and formerly in New Zealand for legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security.-United Kingdom:*The Official Secrets...
but so far he has not been successfully prosecuted by the British military authorities for making his allegations. It is also worth noting that disinformation and the use of one FRU controlled IRA agent to smear another is a tactic which Ingram acknowledged. He has described this process as: "using your own agents to sow those seeds and from small acorns grow."
However, Ingram made his allegations after he was discharged from the British Army. Following this he was arrested under the Official Secrets Act, his house was burgled and he was injuncted against making any further allegations drawing on his military service.
Whistleblowing and dirty tricks
A number of intelligence operations in Northern Ireland have involved the spreading of disinformation and black propaganda, most infamous being "Clockwork OrangeClockwork Orange (plot)
Clockwork Orange is the name of the secret British security services project which was alleged to have involved a right-wing smear campaign against British politicians in the 1970s....
"- an operation involving both MI6 & MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
agents. There have also been whistleblowers before. In the case of "Clockwork Orange" the operation was unmasked after revelations by Colin Wallace
Colin Wallace
John Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warfare operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange' project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
in the 1970s. There also existed an MI6 honeypot for active pedophiles at Kincora boy's home
Kincora boy's home
The Kincora Boys' Home was a home for working boys in Belfast that was the scene of a notorious child sex abuse scandal.-Scandal:The scandal first came to public attention in January 1980 after a news report in the Irish Independent...
during the 1970s. The Kincora home was used to blackmail and subvert prominent establishment figures in Northern Ireland via surveillance. Allegations of dirty tricks also surfaced with MI6 agent Fred Holroyd
Fred Holroyd
Captain Frederick John Holroyd was a British soldier who was based at the British Army's 3 Brigade HQ in mid-Ulster, Northern Ireland during the 1970s. He enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, and three years later, in 1964, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps...
in the 1970s and 1980s who alleged that the truce talks with the IRA around the mid 1970s had been derailed deliberately by the British Intelligence services via a campaign Loyalist assassinations which they sponsored and controlled. With this track record in mind, it has been argued that Ingram is practicing disinformation. On the other hand the fact that he was arrested and injuncted and his case was taken up by human rights groups after his original Sunday Times allegations argues against this. He also gave evidence against the British army version of events and in favour of Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
at the Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Bloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
Tribunal.
Brian Nelson
Ingram alleges in his book "Stakeknife" that the UDA chief of Intelligence in the 1990s, Brian Nelson, was given sensitive information by his FRU handler (alleged to be Captain Margaret Walshaw), which allowed him to wilfully target individuals the FRU wanted killed and to generate his own targeting data for the assassination of Catholic civilians. Ingram is clear however that to his mind Nelson was a method of leverage within the UDA, which actually prevented random sectarian assassinations. Instead, Ingram says, Nelson was used by British Intelligence via the FRU to aid the loyalist paramilitaries in targeting republicans rather than civilian Roman Catholics. Ingram has said:"The strategy of using him [Nelson] as a conduit, through and using the UFF Ulster Freedom Fighters as an extension of the operational capability of the British Army. And by that I mean refining their targeting, increasing their operational deficiency [efficiency?] by re-arming them and using them to target known subversives which fitted the criteria and other type of person that the FRU wanted eliminating.
Ingram claims that Nelson was used by his handlers to assassinate Pat Finucane
Pat Finucane (solicitor)
Patrick Finucane was a Catholic Belfast solicitor killed by loyalist paramilitaries on 12 February 1989. His killing was one of the most controversial during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Finucane came to prominence due to successfully challenging the British Government over several important...
, a human rights lawyer in Belfast who had been active in defending republican defendants in court. He also alleges that Nelson was used by the FRU to import weapons into Northern Ireland for use by loyalist paramilitaries, weapons subsequently split between the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.-Origins:The group was launched at a three thousand-strong invitation-only meeting at the Ulster Hall...
(a group initially backed by Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
).
In Finucane's murder he also implicates a Special Branch informer in the UDA, Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
, who was the Commander of the organisation in West Belfast. However, while Ingram makes the allegation that the FRU targeted Finucane via Nelson, he says it was up to the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) to act on this information and prevent his murder.
Stakeknife
Specifically, Ingram also alleges that Nelson was used to protect an FRU asset known as "StakeknifeStakeknife
Stakeknife is the code name of an alleged spy who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army at a high level, while working for the top secret Force Research Unit of the British Army...
" alleged to be Alfredo "Freddie" Scappaticci (of the IRA's Internal Security Unit
Internal Security Unit
The Internal Security Unit was the name given to the counter-intelligence and interrogation unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
(ISU)). A claim denied by Scappaticci. This was done via the assassination of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era internee Francisco Notarantonio. Freddie Scappaticci
Freddie Scappaticci
Freddie Scappaticci was accused in the Irish and British media on 11 May 2003 of being a high-level double agent in the Provisional Irish Republican Army , known by the codename Stakeknife.-Early life:...
is said to have volunteered his services as a spy in the late 1970s and that he eventually become the "crown jewels" (the best) in the hierarchy of British Intelligence IRA assets.
At least some of these killings being carried out with the prior knowledge, and possible complicity of his FRU handlers. Ingram also alleges that Scappaticci was complicit with his FRU handlers in the deaths of other FRU agents within the IRA.
Failed assassination of Gerry Adams
Ingram alleges that the failed assassination bid on Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
president Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
in 1984 was as a direct result of British Intelligence and the activities of the FRU. FRU agent Brian Nelson is said to have warned his FRU handlers of the impending attack and Ingram alleges that the FRU then proceeded to tamper with the ammunition that was to be used. The ammunition was altered to decrease its velocity, effectively rendering it useless although it would appear to fire as normal ammunition.
The attack, when it took place, was from the range of around 5 feet and involved three gunmen but Adams survived, but with serious wounds. He fully recovered. His attackers were almost instantly arrested by nearby Special Branch officers who, Ingram says, were waiting for the attack to fail. The episode, says Ingram, is an indication that British Intelligence wanted Adams' life spared.
Martin McGuinness
Most recently, Ingram has also alleged that Sinn Féin negotiator, MP, and ex adjutant of the IRA Brigade in DerryDerry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
is a British Army agent. He first made these allegations public on Cryptome at the end of 2005, and later made these allegations in February 2006 on the ultranationalist, anti-Good Friday Agreement Radio Free Eireann, a republican orientated internet radio show based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The allegations began with the circumstances surrounding the death of IRA volunteer and FRU asset Frank Hegarty, who was encouraged by his handlers to penetrate the IRA. Following this encouragement he rose to a position of responsibility and was given control over a IRA arms dump which was subsequently discovered - the largest find by Gardaí on the island of Ireland. Ingram has continually alleged that McGuinness was involved in Hegarty's death and that he was killed to protect a higher placed FRU agent. These allegations were then reiterated in the British Houses of Parliament by a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.
On 28 May 2006 the Sunday World
Sunday World
The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. It is the largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland and is also sold in Northern Ireland .-Origins:The Sunday World was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper...
newspaper based in Dublin published further allegations emanating from Ingram. The story concentrated on an undated document purporting to be a transcript of a conversation between McGuinness and an MI6 agent circa 1990. The document describes a conversation in which the IRA "proxy bomb" strategy is discussed- the "proxy bomb
Proxy Bomb
The proxy bomb was a tactic used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army for a short time in the early 1990s, whereby members of the British security forces or British Army employees were forced to drive car bombs into British military targets, after taking their families as hostages. It has...
" being a method of attack where a human being is strapped into an explosive packed vehicle, then forced to drive to a British Army vehicle checkpoint before detonation.
The document described a meeting between J118 (Ingram claims this was McGuinness's codename) and a figure described as "G" (the British Intelligence handler). In the document J118 says that everyone was "geared up for it" (the proxy bomb campaign). "G" also tells J118 not to worry about IRA members who wanted to take the human bomb campaign to Belfast, adding: "We will look after things in that department, you just concentrate on the checkpoints."
Ingram's central claim in the interview is that the handlers for J118 encouraged the IRA to engage in the "proxy bomb" campaign to provoke a wave of revulsion at the attacks thus triggering a political and security backlash against the organisation. Ingram suggests that the five British soldiers killed in the first attack were sacrificed as a "means to an end". Ingram is also quoted as saying:
"They [British Intelligence] play the long game, not the short game. To them solving the problems in Ireland was a marathon, not a sprint."
Transcript as it appeared
- J118: As I said, Patsy (SA3) was all for it, Tommy (SA1) was ready to go, he said he would have no problems asking the crew for their support.
- G: Do you think there will be any problem with it?
- J118: I know our fella (J119) has everyone geared up for it, he (J119) thinks it is his idea.
- G: I think you should push this along as quickly as possible.
- J118: Murray (B328) is pushing, starting to ask a lot of questions about Belfast Command.
- G: Don't worry, we will look after things in that department, you just concentrate on the checkpoints.
- G: We must have another meeting next week. In the meantime you can use the number I gave you in updates on the progress of things.
- Ingram claims (J119) is Martin McGuinness's brother: Willie McGuinness.
Ending his interview in the Sunday World Ingram states:
"I don't know if Willie [Willie McGuinness] was working for the Branch or not. But I am 100% convinced that his brother Martin McGuinness is an agent, that the document is 100% authentic and I am 100% convinced he was working for MI6."
McGuinness has strenuously denied all the claims made against him.
See also
- StakeknifeStakeknifeStakeknife is the code name of an alleged spy who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army at a high level, while working for the top secret Force Research Unit of the British Army...
- Freddie ScappaticciFreddie ScappaticciFreddie Scappaticci was accused in the Irish and British media on 11 May 2003 of being a high-level double agent in the Provisional Irish Republican Army , known by the codename Stakeknife.-Early life:...
- Force Research UnitForce Research UnitForce Research Unit is alleged to be a name used by a covert military intelligence unit established by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army based at Templer Barracks, Ashford in Kent. The FRU is alleged to have been formed between 1980 and 1981...
- British Military Intelligence Systems in Northern IrelandBritish Military Intelligence Systems in Northern IrelandThe British Military is alleged by author Tony Geraghty to have exploited a number of information sources during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Geraghty describes these in his book, The Irish War, basing his description on an extract from an unspecified, classified document passed to him by an...
Further information/sources
- After leaving the army he has published articles via British newspapers including The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, and The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. He has also written for papers based in Northern Ireland including The Irish NewsThe Irish NewsThe Irish News is a compact-sized daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is perceived as being broadly Irish nationalist in outlook...
, and the Andersonstown NewsAndersonstown NewsThe Belfast Media Group's Andersonstown News is twice-weekly published Belfast, Northern Ireland newspaper, which focuses on news and issues, in west Belfast....
. - He is also a regular contributor to the Slugger O'Toole website at www.sluggerotoole.com using the same pseudonym- "Martin Ingram".
- Ingram is currently writing a new book.
External links
- "It's time ordinary republicans stopped being led like sheep" - Ingram interview with the Sunday Tribune, 19 February 2006.
- "Ulster 'dirty war' inquiry collapses" - Sunday Herald report on Ingram's withdrawal of his statement to the Stevens Inquiry, 17 December 2000
- Summary of the allegations against McGuinness prior to the Sunday World story available here.
- Lengthy Interview given by Martin Ingram on Radio Free Eireann describing his FRU activities. NOTE, the interview begins twenty-five minutes in.
- British Irish Rights Watch Report on "Stakeknife"