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An IRA unit headed by a notorious British agent vetted all IRA operations carried out in Belfast over a three-year period in the 1980's, a new book claims.
Of times that the internal "security unit have saved the army council?" now, i didn't think much about it at the time. in later years, i've come to the view that that's perhaps what the internal security unit's real raison d'etre was, the real purpose was to protect the army council. the british wanted that army council post—1983 in place because they knew that the army council were assets, and i differentiate between assets and agents here, that they were assets in as far as they were going to deliver a solution. former ira prisoner gerard hodgins knew scappaticci to be part of the ira's se...
The ira said they shot joseph fenton because he was what they called a british agent. joe fenton, a suspected informer, had first been interrogated in this house before his execution. it's also where, several months later, another suspected informer, sandy lynch, was brought to. his account of what happened to him gives us the greatest insight into scappaticci at work as a spy catcher. an actor is giving voice to edited extracts of what lynch told the authorities about his ordeal. i belonged to the provisional irish republican army. the unit was under control of the belfast brigade. sean magui...
Every time stakeknife made contact, to make certain that we had a handler who knew him on tap so that stakeknife always saw a soldier that he knew. scappaticci was handled with care because he was worth it. he had access to every ira department. he knew who was on the up, personal weaknesses, insights that could prove useful for turning others. he even vetted new recruits. the unit designed to protect the ira was, in effect, a gift to its enemy. the moment anything from stakeknife came in, we knew it had to be handed on immediately. it was definitely high—grade, about policy, rather than low...
And someone was behind me. someone who i believed was scappaticci. sandy lynch was in freddie scappaticci's sights. we entered a room at the top of the stairs. maguire and i were talking. the room was in darkness. ifelt a hand on the back of my head, and i was pushed down onto a bed and i heard a voice saying, "ira security." sandy lynch was stripped, blindfolded and tied up. i was searched from head to foot. and i felt something which i believed to be a metal detector going over my body. and i heard a voice. scappaticci said, "this thing was going haywire." for over an hour, according to sand...