TIMESTAMPS 00:00 How did so many informants get recruited by The British security forces 9:55 Who were the FRU (Force Research Unit) 19:30 Willie Carlin & Denis Donaldson 24:45 Ian Hurst’s involvement 30:20 IRA NEARLY BLOW-UP PRINCESS DIANA 35:30 Spy-master’s dilemma 41:15 Gaddafi’s involvement 46:35 Plans for tv series or movie ??
As for Sean O'Callaghan he was head of Southern Command but a Gardai agent. It has since been shown he was more interested in self promotion than anything else and became a real Walter Mitty. Lastly who in the right mind would not think an IRA man getting into a moving transit van would not be suspicious? Because of the lack of public transport? It would have been picked up on immediately.
No matter the reason why anyone would be turned or become an informer the fact remains that they betrayed not only their comrades but their Country to the very people (system) that for over 800yrs had been responsible for hundreds of thousands of Irish men,women and children's deaths ,imprisonment and migration.
Everyone has their price, always remember the left wing and the right wing is always operated by the same bird in the middle, that bird is the British establishment
Scap was into underage girls , Morrison and Donaldson little kids , Joe cahill underage girls undercover soldiers were following him round Belfast watching him with kids in taxis , Adams had a brother and dad who were both nonces , later convicted and jailed , mcguiness was filmed by a US TV crew armed and setting up a bomb 💣 would of got him 50 years in a diplock court , that's how they were turned and then paid handsomely but they were blackmailed into being touts
Stakeknife was going to be prosecuted for multiple murders , why wasn’t his handler in the security forces not held responsible too as he was feeding Stakeknife information on who else they wanted taken out , many of them falsely accused of being informers ?
What a great channel! I've listened to 5 or 6 episodes and finally got round to hitting subscribe. Thanks for getting these down, a fascinating time in Irish history
In the Gerry Adams hit, the ammo was changed to a lower velocity, one thing about Adams is that he is I.R.B. One brigade the Brits could not get anywhere with was the South Armagh Brigade, mind you the South Armagh Brigade was made of farmers and farmhands and weren't into any of that communist/socialist nonsense. . .
just wrapping up "four shots in the night" and i loved it. a true story of the murder of a suspected british army agent who is caught by the ira. author henry hemming tells a phenomenal story capturing the main character, his family and cohorts in and out of the ira. could not put it done.
@@ciaranbrown1983 Fascinating stuff thanks for the info. I'm still sure that both him and Martin McGuinness received immunity as soon as they mediated with Whitelaw in 1972... immunity not necessarily meaning turning straight away (just to clarify) but he ordered her dead right just as Dolores Price and Brendan Huges imply??
@garyyoung9085 that was punishment for hiding transmitters abs spying on her neighbours she was warned . And no they weren't immune sure didn't the try to charge Adams after the tapes came out
John Joe McGee, an ex-SBS man. Any wonder his loyalties were still to the crown? Stupid bastard IRA leadership for taking a man with that back ground into its inner sanctum. I many times considered joining in the mid-1980s, and I knew a few great lads. But something always told me in my stomach that it was rotten. Never mind the other British agents, Eamon Collins, and then, of course, the pun (Fred the "Fred").The brits didn't even need the SAS to hide being hedges and shoot our people dead, the Brits could just drive you down to County Monaghan themselves and shoot you after twisting you for all the information you had, with two weeks electric shock ballbags, cold baths and hanging upside down? The British government should be in front of an international war crimes court.
It is rumoured he was an RUC Special Branch informer. The evidence is inconclusive but the Dark was fairly sure he was and he was at the heart of it. It is hard to say though- Special Branch destroyed much of their documentation when Lord Stevens was first sniffing around.
@@deanmcmurtryJohn joe Magee wasn't an agent he was a Royal Marine/SBS member that the RA groomed. The M60 gang had multiple ex special forces guys in their ranks
Actually not true. They worked closely with him for a few years until a safe house was compromised in Dundalk and the South Armagh Brigade linked that to Scapattichi. They let the Belfast Brigade know their concerns and refused to work with him again. Nothing was done by the Belfast Brigade. Why, is the big question.
@@thetruth7386 yes they worked (under orders) until the safe house was compromised in Louth but many had reservations already but the more time went on just confirmed what people were thinking
Very engaging. Thank you. I wonder if the paramils had spies within the British Army? Such a waste of human endeavour. People just get addicted to the chess game. I saw a WWII British soldier being interviewed in old age openly admitting that he became addicted to the adrenaline rush of killing! So tragic. It'll take a generation to die off to put the Troubles behind us.
Interesting interview. Your guest has a nice way of compiling secondhand source stories to provide a cohesive story around a secretive system that existed within a secret army. One note of criticism though, Mr. Hemming mentions a story about how the IRA almost blew up Princess Diana. However, the source of that story, as he says, was Sean O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan's reputation was pretty shite among republicans, not because he flipped, but because his stories were seen as specious, at best. So, I tend to disbelieve many stories told by O'Callaghan and I wonder if your guest considered O'Callaghan's reputation when repeating that story. Overall, though, I like the way he traces these stories together and charts them along a timeline. There are still so many unknowns around 'the Troubles.'
Willie Carlin was not Gerry Adams driver. That was Roy McShane outed as an informer in 2008. Carlin was working within Sinn Fein in Derry in the 1980's. As for Frank Hegarty he was more interested in getting money to gamble than anything else. That was his motivation. The dogs in the street know that. Not very impressed by this to be honest. I was thinking on buying the book but not so sure now.
The psychological impact on working class areas right across the board must be horrendous workers killing workers bus men ,bin men ,taxi drivers, and the areas crippled with social problems. Who ever is responsible has a lot to answer for for the damage 😮
Great video. Just finished reading Four Shots in The Night by Henry. Fascinating reading. Best book on this subject since 'Stakeknife' Ingram & Harkin (2004) & 'Fishers of Men' by Rob Lewis (1999).
@@thegoodlistenerpodcast Any reason why that you'd care to share? Great podcast. Would like to hear from Henry McNally or some more of Brendans East Tyrone unit.
I read this book and found that it was a wonderful novel, very gripping. However, like the other great novel about the troubles, Say Nothing, I seriously doubt many of his assumptions. He gives us a quick assurance of the type of documents and interviews he based the book on, but he does not cite any of these sources, except the Stakeknife tapes, during the story of the agents and their lives and deaths. After reading Kitson’s Irish War, I am spoiled on well researched and clearly documented writing. With Hemmings I would say it’s a great novel, but I would not use it as a source for a serious study of the troubles and the spies.
Hi, I follow your Podcasts on the Castbox app. This episode didn't appear on the app. The latest episode on the app, is the Kincora & The missing Boys one, on the app it is dated March 25th. Can I ask, are some of the Podcasts not always uploaded to the app? Are all your Podcasts just uploaded to RUclips? Thanks In Advance.
A very insightful and well researched book is Thomas Leahy book 'The intelligence war against the IRA' it is a much more balanced position on the successes and failures of British intelligence. How the IRA was not as is commonly propagated by the British that the IRA were riddled with informers.
I read Donaldson had accidentally shot a Catholic guy during the battle of St Matthews on the short strand in 1970. The RUC picked him up for it a few years later and turned him giving him the choice between prosecution and touting. Anyone else heard this story??
I think the British founded the PIRA. The fact they said they wanted a socialist state 😂. The old KGB trick. They had a goal to achieve a system that failed 100% of the time. Ffs
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 How did so many informants get recruited by The British security forces
9:55 Who were the FRU (Force Research Unit)
19:30 Willie Carlin & Denis Donaldson
24:45 Ian Hurst’s involvement
30:20 IRA NEARLY BLOW-UP PRINCESS DIANA
35:30 Spy-master’s dilemma
41:15 Gaddafi’s involvement
46:35 Plans for tv series or movie ??
As for Sean O'Callaghan he was head of Southern Command but a Gardai agent. It has since been shown he was more interested in self promotion than anything else and became a real Walter Mitty. Lastly who in the right mind would not think an IRA man getting into a moving transit van would not be suspicious? Because of the lack of public transport? It would have been picked up on immediately.
No matter the reason why anyone would be turned or become an informer the fact remains that they betrayed not only their comrades but their Country to the very people (system) that for over 800yrs had been responsible for hundreds of thousands of Irish men,women and children's deaths ,imprisonment and migration.
Everyone has their price, always remember the left wing and the right wing is always operated by the same bird in the middle, that bird is the British establishment
@@BluenoseWatp-eh2mxnot everyone has their price, all the hunger strikers were committed to the end
Scap was into underage girls , Morrison and Donaldson little kids , Joe cahill underage girls undercover soldiers were following him round Belfast watching him with kids in taxis , Adams had a brother and dad who were both nonces , later convicted and jailed , mcguiness was filmed by a US TV crew armed and setting up a bomb 💣 would of got him 50 years in a diplock court , that's how they were turned and then paid handsomely but they were blackmailed into being touts
What common thread would motivate so many - the fear of being unmasked as something much worse than being unmasked as a tout...
Brilliant stream. I could listen to Henry all night .Hope he reads his own Audible.
Stakeknife was going to be prosecuted for multiple murders , why wasn’t his handler in the security forces not held responsible too as he was feeding Stakeknife information on who else they wanted taken out , many of them falsely accused of being informers ?
What a great channel! I've listened to 5 or 6 episodes and finally got round to hitting subscribe. Thanks for getting these down, a fascinating time in Irish history
Five minutes in and I preordered the book!
In the Gerry Adams hit, the ammo was changed to a lower velocity, one thing about Adams is that he is I.R.B.
One brigade the Brits could not get anywhere with was the South Armagh Brigade, mind you the South Armagh Brigade was made of farmers and farmhands and weren't into any of that communist/socialist nonsense. . .
This is a man I could listen to forever..he is so very fair..
That's not true,did you see the Brendan Hughes interview?
I.R.B ?
@@lt8400 The brotherhood
just wrapping up "four shots in the night" and i loved it. a true story of the murder of a suspected british army agent who is caught by the ira. author henry hemming tells a phenomenal story capturing the main character, his family and cohorts in and out of the ira. could not put it done.
How could Jean mconville be sent for her tea but because of the embarrassment to the movement they never had the balls to touch him
? Touch who
Because he's had immunity to prosecution since 1972??
@garyyoung9085 he wasn't turned until 78 and it was ivor bell who executed her
@@ciaranbrown1983 Fascinating stuff thanks for the info. I'm still sure that both him and Martin McGuinness received immunity as soon as they mediated with Whitelaw in 1972... immunity not necessarily meaning turning straight away (just to clarify) but he ordered her dead right just as Dolores Price and Brendan Huges imply??
@garyyoung9085 that was punishment for hiding transmitters abs spying on her neighbours she was warned . And no they weren't immune sure didn't the try to charge Adams after the tapes came out
Lets not forget, stakeknife was 2 i/c his boss was also an agent
John Joe McGee, an ex-SBS man. Any wonder his loyalties were still to the crown? Stupid bastard IRA leadership for taking a man with that back ground into its inner sanctum. I many times considered joining in the mid-1980s, and I knew a few great lads. But something always told me in my stomach that it was rotten. Never mind the other British agents, Eamon Collins, and then, of course, the pun (Fred the "Fred").The brits didn't even need the SAS to hide being hedges and shoot our people dead, the Brits could just drive you down to County Monaghan themselves and shoot you after twisting you for all the information you had, with two weeks electric shock ballbags, cold baths and hanging upside down? The British government should be in front of an international war crimes court.
It is rumoured he was an RUC Special Branch informer. The evidence is inconclusive but the Dark was fairly sure he was and he was at the heart of it. It is hard to say though- Special Branch destroyed much of their documentation when Lord Stevens was first sniffing around.
So is Adams
John Joe Magee was a agent too
@@deanmcmurtryJohn joe Magee wasn't an agent he was a Royal Marine/SBS member that the RA groomed. The M60 gang had multiple ex special forces guys in their ranks
In Armagh Scappaticci was never trusted >fact
He wasn't in Belfast either by darkie hughes
Actually not true. They worked closely with him for a few years until a safe house was compromised in Dundalk and the South Armagh Brigade linked that to Scapattichi. They let the Belfast Brigade know their concerns and refused to work with him again. Nothing was done by the Belfast Brigade. Why, is the big question.
@@thetruth7386 yes they worked (under orders) until the safe house was compromised in Louth but many had reservations already but the more time went on just confirmed what people were thinking
@@thetruth7386Interesting & thank you for the information 👍
@@thetruth7386because Adam’s and Marty were on the books
Just bought the book looking forward to it
Good comment, we used that , we had people in the same group reporting on each other without them knowing
Very engaging. Thank you. I wonder if the paramils had spies within the British Army? Such a waste of human endeavour. People just get addicted to the chess game. I saw a WWII British soldier being interviewed in old age openly admitting that he became addicted to the adrenaline rush of killing! So tragic. It'll take a generation to die off to put the Troubles behind us.
Loyalists had British soldiers.
Interesting interview. Your guest has a nice way of compiling secondhand source stories to provide a cohesive story around a secretive system that existed within a secret army. One note of criticism though, Mr. Hemming mentions a story about how the IRA almost blew up Princess Diana. However, the source of that story, as he says, was Sean O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan's reputation was pretty shite among republicans, not because he flipped, but because his stories were seen as specious, at best. So, I tend to disbelieve many stories told by O'Callaghan and I wonder if your guest considered O'Callaghan's reputation when repeating that story. Overall, though, I like the way he traces these stories together and charts them along a timeline. There are still so many unknowns around 'the Troubles.'
Fascinating insights. Talk about a dirty war. Gives a whole different perspective on the peace process
Willie Carlin was not Gerry Adams driver. That was Roy McShane outed as an informer in 2008. Carlin was working within Sinn Fein in Derry in the 1980's. As for Frank Hegarty he was more interested in getting money to gamble than anything else. That was his motivation. The dogs in the street know that. Not very impressed by this to be honest. I was thinking on buying the book but not so sure now.
Exactly
I think that's a bit narrow minded. The book goes deeper than that
Great podcast this man's done his research and knowledgeable in what he is saying great questions by the host well done gentlemen
The psychological impact on working class areas right across the board must be horrendous workers killing workers bus men ,bin men ,taxi drivers, and the areas crippled with social problems. Who ever is responsible has a lot to answer for for the damage 😮
Scap was a greedy tout
He was an arrogant bully even to wemen of the area
Great video. Just finished reading Four Shots in The Night by Henry. Fascinating reading. Best book on this subject since 'Stakeknife' Ingram & Harkin (2004) & 'Fishers of Men' by Rob Lewis (1999).
Could you do an interview with Martin McGartland and or Willie Carlin,that would be fascinating.
Certainly won’t be speaking to Carlin anyway..
@@thegoodlistenerpodcast Any reason why that you'd care to share? Great podcast. Would like to hear from Henry McNally or some more of Brendans East Tyrone unit.
@@dominicseanmccann6300why not?? Yes we wanna know
I read this book and found that it was a wonderful novel, very gripping. However, like the other great novel about the troubles, Say Nothing, I seriously doubt many of his assumptions. He gives us a quick assurance of the type of documents and interviews he based the book on, but he does not cite any of these sources, except the Stakeknife tapes, during the story of the agents and their lives and deaths. After reading Kitson’s Irish War, I am spoiled on well researched and clearly documented writing.
With Hemmings I would say it’s a great novel, but I would not use it as a source for a serious study of the troubles and the spies.
Hi, I follow your Podcasts on the Castbox app. This episode didn't appear on the app. The latest episode on the app, is the Kincora & The missing Boys one, on the app it is dated March 25th. Can I ask, are some of the Podcasts not always uploaded to the app? Are all your Podcasts just uploaded to RUclips?
Thanks In Advance.
A very insightful and well researched book is Thomas Leahy book 'The intelligence war against the IRA' it is a much more balanced position on the successes and failures of British intelligence. How the IRA was not as is commonly propagated by the British that the IRA were riddled with informers.
I read Donaldson had accidentally shot a Catholic guy during the battle of St Matthews on the short strand in 1970. The RUC picked him up for it a few years later and turned him giving him the choice between prosecution and touting. Anyone else heard this story??
I won’t betray, but what’s in public domain and my experiences I’m happy to discuss, ex FRU, 2 tours, and an instructor at SIW,,,
@@mickjmr give me a shout mate thegoodlistenerpodcast@gmail.com
I heard the phone call
Your greyhound story, is almost there
Who convinced frank o to come back.
But true from frank
The late queen was a soviet spy
The Marita Anne
I think the British founded the PIRA. The fact they said they wanted a socialist state 😂. The old KGB trick. They had a goal to achieve a system that failed 100% of the time. Ffs
Who betrayed that.
Me Dazza
No he wasnt
Gerry Adams and Martin mc Guinness were lovers,
Donaldson was caught in a gay honeytrap
Hurst,,,
Crap, exactly
Who cares ? Countless lives were saved.
I don’t believe one life was saved . Information is more important than life .
Scap save double digits not 100s
@@ciaranbrown1983 he killed more than he saved . The ones that were saved were agents themselves
@@gerardhenry5501a innocent lives were. The Loughall ambush prevented countless deaths.
I don't understand why people are sectarian? You have new criminal immigrants to worry about😢
Bullshit from hurst
1980😂
You know some , but not all,, your view on motivation is very narrow minded,,,
Another lare of bullsit - if you are telling the story - don't dress it up as a fairytale,and tell truth
MICE
Money
Ideology
Coercion
Extortion