Stray Bullets

I know. I do tend to stumble through my thoughts, at times spilling out a stream of consciousness. Nevertheless, I just recently realised that it's been just over forty years since I joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I hadn't a clue then, and, most likely, still haven't?! So, I've tried to restrict what I want to say in this episode - the vast bulk of the subject matter I raise I've already covered in previous episodes about the Hunger Strikes, commemoration of the past, 'imagined communities' (especially Loyalist - and how Loyalism could quickly turn on the police if, for example, Orange parades were rerouted).Listening to myself I wonder at times if I do have some form of Stockholm Syndrome? I mean, I've always tried to conduct myself with even a modicum of empathy, or need to understand counter-narratives and opposing ideologies, but have I strayed over the 'empathy line' too far? I don't know. Many of my ex-RUC colleagues would say I have and that, being of 'soft-mind' and a traitor to organisational memory / mythology, I'm welcome to stay there! Anyway, tomorrow I begin scripting out my episodes returning to the subject of asset management, the Intelligence Services, collusion, murder, relative legislative points and things like RIPA.I hope you'll join me - if you make it through this episode unscathed, or just bemused!           Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Well, just over forty years ago I joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary. So, I'd like to make my next podcast one in which I over my time in the RUC / PSNI. Hopefully I can draw on events that I've not, so far, included in my previous podcasts as well as trying to keep things light.I've nearly completed revisions for my upcoming podcasts revisiting the Intelligence Services and Asset Handling etc., during the Troubles, I just need to go over some aspects of relevant legislation and transcripts. The above podcast will provide me with a bit of a breather before I enter the world of counter-terrorism again, plus a break from P. & B & D & I who've been slagging me off again in the 19th hole ; )  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A concise look at colonial mechanisms of suppression of indigenous language, customs and superstitions in the context of 18th century Ireland. The inception of this episode is due to my long interest in (old) languages as well as etymology combined with the current debacle in Northern Ireland surrounding the use of the Irish language.Sources:Colby, T.F., Instructions for the interior survey of Ireland, lithographed at the Ordinance Survey office, Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1825Curtis, L.P., Anglo-Saxons and Celts: a study of anti-Irish prejudice in Victorian England, Bridgeport CN, 1968 Dixon, H., 'John O'Donovan', An Leabharlann 2:1, 1906Durkacz, V.E., The decline of the Celtic languages: a study of linguistic and cultural conflict in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland from the Reformation to the twentieth century, Edinburgh, 1983Fulford, T. & P.J. Kitson (eds), Romanticism and colonialism: writing and empire, 1780 - 1830, Cambridge and New York, 1998 Hindley, R., Irish in the nineteenth century: from collapse to the dawn of revival, in R. Hindley, The death of the Irish language: a qualified obituary, London, 1990MacDonagh, O., The politics of Gaelic in O. MacDonagh, States of mind: a study of Anglo-Irish conflict, 1780 - 1980, London, 1983O'Donovan, J., The topographical poems of O'Dubhagain agus O'Huidrin, Dublin, 1862O'Donovan, J., A grammar of the Irish language, published for the use of the senior classes in the College of St Columba, Dublin, 1845Ó' Loinsigh, P., The Irish language in the nineteenth century, Oideas 14, 1975Spenser, E., A view of the state of Ireland from the first printed edition (1633), ed. A Hadfield and W. Maley, Malden MA, 1997Swift, C., John O'Donovan and the framing of early medieval Ireland in the nineteenth century, Bullán 1:1, Spring 1994     Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Some succinct recollections about how some females were treated in the RUC, at the time a very patriarchal organisation. Also, to conclude a brief look at Irish right-wing groups and the maintenance of tribal hatreds. I may expand on the latter in a future episode. I have shifted the proposed episode about the Irish Language to an episode of its own as I have slightly more material and in mind of current political posturing and culture wars - the lies for your vote is on, or 'I'll give you a fistful of grievances and victimhood you didn't know you needed - I'll throw in some confirmation bias for free, too!   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Details about some of the subjects I hope to discuss in the next Stray Bullets episode. Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Some additional aspects following messages and a few conversations with ex- and still serving police colleagues.'[My father] did not show me how to be sociable. I ended up designing a covert life; I have to maintain a profile while being invisible.' John Cale Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A look at how the Northern Irish proletariat continue to allow themselves to be exploited through the maintenance of the legacy of flags and fear.   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

I suppose the title should really read: 'Political Courage in Northern Ireland flaps in tatters from upon the lamppost that one of our un/elected demagogues attached it to before intimating a threat to anyone who dared remove it.'In the pipeline is a return to discussing asset handling and the 'nuances' of Special Branch as well as looking more in-depth at PIRA volunteer testimonials.      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A condensed episode considering how Catholics may fare in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. For more in-depth thoughts please see links below:They Had Their Loyalties: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI'A Black Man is better than a Fenian': Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IIBrief Preamble to Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IIIIsolation: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IVMinor Addendum for: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IV'Say Nothing': Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part VSymbolic Dominance: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part VI   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

An additional, unplanned, episode originating from some surplus material (AKA thoughts) I had left over from prior episodes. In this episode I talk about the murder of Derek Wood and David Howes as well as the peace walls in Belfast.Medbh McGuckian: New Selected PoemsRow erupts over proposal to remove peace wall through Belfast parkClick here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The concluding episode of Subtle Alchemies. Herein, I discuss the ideal / innocent victim / victim-perpetrator paradigm as well as looking at the cowardly murders of Edgar Graham and Sean Brown. Killed for who they were perceived to be representative of. Also, the murder of RUC officer Jonathan (Jon) Reid.An in-depth series of episodes revisiting subjects such as asset-handling, intelligence streams, RUC SB, MI5 et al, are planned for the new year. Works citedMcKittrick, D., Kelters, S., Feeney, B., Thornton, C., and  McVea, D., (eds), Lost Lives (updated and revised), Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh and London, 2007Orwell, G., Homage to Catalonia, Penguin Classic, 2000         Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A somewhat disjointed episode, unplanned and unscripted. Nevertheless, I felt necessary, as such, to get me back into producing an episode following a sharp dip along my mental road. Anyway, in this episode I talk about some of our politicians jetting off to Israel, the Palestinian flag at Belfast City Hall, the film Black '47, victimhood as agency, cognitive dissonance and extreme sensibilities among a myriad of other things!In the next episode I will, finally, conclude my look at victims, collective memory and forgiveness in our post-conflict society.        Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

In this episode I look at the construction of victimology in the context of Bloody Sunday as well as that of 'Soldier F'. Also, I consider Organisational Memory, Myth-Making, Blamelessness and Out Group / In Group dynamics. Cohen, S., States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001Eveleigh, R., Peace-Keeping in a Democratic Society. The Lessons of Northern Ireland, C. Hurst and Company, London, 1978Halbwachs, M., On Collective Memory, University of Chicago Press, 1992Lundy, P. and McGovern M., The Politics of Memory in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland, Peace Review 13, 2001Morrissey, M. and Smyth, M., Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame, Pluto Press, London, 2002Sykes, G. M. and Matza, D., Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency, American Sociological Review 22, 1957  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

In this episode I move on to discuss the terms 'victim' and 'perpetrator' and that in post-conflict societies these terms are seldom mutually exclusive of one another. Are we much too early, in terms of reconciliation, to even begin to think about determining ideal constructs of both 'victim' and 'perpetrator' in Northern Ireland?Never mind 'Hierarchies of Victims', were there 'Hierarchies of Righteous Violence'?Lots to discuss...       Works cited:Borer, T. A., A Taxonomy of Victims and Perpetrators: Human Rights and Reconciliation in South Africa. Human Rights Quarterly 25, 2003  Brewer, J., Peace Processes: A Sociological Approach, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2010Huyse, L., Victims. In Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook, Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm, 2003Moon C., Narrating Political Reconciliation: South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Lexington Books, Plymouth, 2008 The Four of Us: Mary (The Four of Us were part of the soundtrack to my Border career.) Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

An brief interlude before I get to Part Two of Subtle Alchemies. Also, please check out the very talented, very brilliant, Emer Maguire who appeared at the Stand Up for Integrated Education Comedy Night at the Ulster Hall.Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

This is the first episode of a series in which I discuss not only the definition of a 'victim' in the context of the Troubles, but also perceptions of victimhood, either justified or unjustified, as well as 'complex victims'. Works cited:Bar-Tal, Daniel, Lily Chernyak-Hai, Noa Schori, and Ayelet Gundar, A Sense of Self-Perceived Collective Victimhood in Intractable Conflicts, International Review of the Red Cross 91, 2009Bouris, Erica, Complex Political Victims, Kumarian Press Inc., Bloomfield CT, 2007Christie, Nils, The Ideal Victim, in From Crime Policy to Victim Policy: Reorienting the Justice System, Macmillan Press, London, 1986  Lawther, Cheryl, The Construction and Politicisation of Victimhood, in Victims of Terrorism: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study, Taylor and Francis, London, 2014Ní Chuinn, Liadan, Every One Still Here, The Stinging Fly Press, Dublin, 2025       Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Some points in response to a number of queries / comments about police management of sexual offenders. I've spoke about this subject over a number of proceeding episodes, so I'll keep it as succinct as I can and try not to repeat anything (not easy, but …).Also in this episode I'm only touching very, very, briefly upon a very current issue which has yet again brought the PSNI (and British Intelligence) under the spotlight, that of the illegal surveillance of Barry McCaffrey's and Trevor Birney's communications, amongst others. Thankfully a PSNI CC, namely John Boucher, has once again shown integrity and professionalism (sadly lacking in a number of previous CC's (both PSNI and RUC) under whose watch such systems of incompetence and autonomy were allowed to take root and infect procedural mechanisms. I've a feeling there's more to come from 4QE!        Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The concluding (for now) episode in which I discuss the experience of catholic officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI. BibliographyBreen, R, Beliefs about the treatment of Catholics and Protestants by the Security Forces, in R. Breen, P. Devine and G. Robinson (eds), Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Fourth Report, Appletree Press, Belfast, 1995Bourdieu, P. Language and Symbolic Power, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1991Cullen, F. Visual Politics: The Representation of Ireland 1750 - 1930, Cork University Press, Cork, 1997 Ellison, G. Professionalism in the Royal Ulster Constabulary: an examination of the institutional discourse, (unpublished D.Phil. thesis), University of Ulster, 1997 McGarry, J. and O'Leary, B. Policing Northern Ireland: Proposals for a New Start, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1999.Mulcahy, A. The Dynamics of the Police Legitimation Process in Northern Ireland, (unpublished PhD thesis, Arizona State University, 1998Ruane, J. and Todd, J. The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996One of PSNI’s first Catholic recruits quits in dismay: ‘I regret joining… I just feel scarred by it’ Northern Ireland’s police service faces anti-Catholic discrimination casesEx-PSNI officer who now says he lied about sectarianism restated his views after bizarre exchangeClick here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Just a few more RUC memories stirred by recent news.Food delivery driver allegedly threatened and racially abused before footage appeared on TikTok, court hears  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Continuing my look at the experience of catholic officers within policing in Northern Ireland. In this episode I begin to look at issues which may affect recruitment from the Nationalist / Republican community.In the following episode I will continue this topic (and most likely conclude same), but with a more in-depth look at some of the selection processes involved when applying to become a PSNI recruit, as well as  a few more anecdotes about the job.          Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The recent 'Hoover-Gate' news report brought back some old memories, as well as a look at the ongoing strategy used to delay and (sometimes) derail being disciplined or summoned to court as a defendant.I should mention also, though, that it's a strategy found in other police service's too.Top police officer facing possible sack retires before misconduct hearing Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Cursory thoughts about some of the rot affecting youth culture in working-class protestant areas of Belfast and the cinema of adoration through hate. Upon reflection there's probably more I could have put into - and further expanded upon - in this episode, but time was against me and I didn't want it to run on too long. My early episodes about Belfast look more at territorial spaces and the episode about Loyalist communities may also be of interest.    TikTok bans Belfast vigilante group’s videos as PSNI labels its actions ‘racism, pure and simple’Vigilante groups targeting migrants in street patrols in Belfast ‘greatly concerning’BibliographyTaylor, S. Responding to Racist Incidents and Racist Crimes in Ireland: An Issue Paper for the Equality Authority, Dublin, Equality Authority, 2011Ramsey, P. and Waterhouse-Bradley, B. Cultural Policy in Northern Ireland: making cultural policy for a divided society, in The Routledge Handbook of Global Cultural Policy, Abingdon: Routledge, 2018  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Listen to the Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IV episode prior to this - I just wanted to expand upon an anecdote I spoke (briefly) about in the above episode.   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The fourth instalment in which I discuss the experiences of Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI.Click on the link below - it'll make more sense after listening to this episode. Many thanks!  Isolation    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A brief preamble.  Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part III will follow in the next Stray Bullets instalment, due very soon!Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

An unexpected interlude. I had planned to bridge episode II and III of 'Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI' with a trailer, but unplanned events look set to overtake me and, as such, I'm unsure now of the possible duration between II and III.In the meantime - time of mean-spiritedness - I couldn't ignore the latest disgrace in our ignoble history, that of Goldsprings of Comber LOL opposition to a local cross-community event hosting children from ten different cultural backgrounds, one being from a GAA sporting background.Below are some links illuminating the debacle to date:This was about Sport – for KidsCricket bodies 'dismayed' over halted summer campLittle-Pengelly ‘saddened and disappointed’ by cancellation of sport summer campThe GAA wolf may wrap itself in the sheep of children, but it is still a wolf       Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The second episode in which I look at the experience of catholic officers within the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. A glimpse of how catholic officers are exposed to isolation, sectarianism and even racism and matters of faith, both external to the job and within it. Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The first of two episodes in which I examine the experience and prospects of catholic police officers in Northern Ireland's RIC, RUC and PSNI. As ever I'll stray from organisational mythology (RUC) and may go off tangent now and again. Thanks for your patience.   BibliographyArthur, P. Government and Politics of Northern Ireland, Longman, London, 1984Boyce, D.G. Nationalism in Ireland, Croom Helm, London, 1982Brady, C. Guardians of the Peace, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1974Brewer, J.D. The Royal Irish Constabulary: An Oral History, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University, Belfast, 1990McNiffe, L. A History of the Garda Siochana: A Social History of the Force 1922-52, with an Overview for the years 1952-97, Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 1997Shaw, Fr Francis, The Canon of Irish History: A Challenge, Studies LXI, Summer, 1972My novel (for those who expressed an interest) Many thanks!The Bitter End of Dreams Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Forthcoming episode...Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Sorry, just another impromptu episode, this time impassioned by the disenfranchised youth of our community being exploited by our organised crime groups and the far-right. This time we're othering many innocent people within our ethnic communities and allowing ourselves to be further exploited by fascists, bigots and racist demagogues.      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Some additional musings I (typically!) omitted.This relates to the John Montague: All the Elements of a Police State episode, so listen to that before this.Many thanks!  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A look at John Montague's short story, The Cry. Set in 1959 it offers an opportunity to examine Northern Irish policing practices during the 1950s and 60s. The impetus for Montague's story was his actual witnessing the assault of a young catholic man by members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (B Specials). As such, The Cry offers a window into catholic fatalism and apathy at a time when there was a furthering fracture of policing between political and conventional roles. The former encouraged and maintained by the, at the time, Unionist hegemony. As ever, included are a few anecdotes and incidents recalled from my service in the RUC.For anyone interested the BBC adaptation of The Cry is available to watch here. BibliographyMontague, John, Death of a Chieftain, Poolbeg Press, Dublin, 1978Farrell, Michael, Northern Ireland: The Orange State, Pluto, London, 1976Mr Nelson, Commons, Debates, August 21, 1951, col. 2071Mr McSparran, Commons, Debates, August 21, 1951, cols. 2088-2089Mr Diamond, Commons, Debates, May 6, 1952, col. 673Mr O'Connor, Commons, Debates, March 12, 1969, col. 309Mr McAteer, Commons, Debates, March 18, 1952, col. 366Hunt Committee, P. 19; P. 32Minister of Home Affairs Bates, Commons, Debates, April 10, 1930, col. 762; March 16, 1932, col. 371  Minister of Home Affairs Craig, Commons, Debates, December 12, 1963, cols. 1667- 1668; December 18, 1963, col. 1823Mr Fitt, Commons, Debates, March 27, 1968, col. 246Mr Hanna, Commons, Debates, May 20, 1936, col. 1704O'Connor, Fionnuala, In Search of a State: Catholics in Northern Ireland, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1993Purdie, Bob, Politics in the Streets: The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1990        Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Trailer for my next episode in which I take a look at new look nationalist attitudes towards policing in Northern Ireland prior to the Troubles.   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A look at the concept of 'state-terrorism' and if such is in itself rendered incoherent in a climate of violent insurrection. Also, the 'showcase ambushes' by British Special Forces. Were these not in effect the lethal confrontation of two opposing forces, one personifying the Irish Republican (understood?) risk of their own blood sacrifice, the other effecting a stop and destroy operation against a well-armed for?No easy answers, but I continue to try and understand the myriad dynamics which churned and boiled the waters of our 'civilized' society. I also consider the final words of the 1916 Easter Uprising leaders such as Pearse, Connolly and Plunkett.Bibliography:Richardson, Louise, What Terrorists Want, New York: Random House, 2006Bitner, Rüdiger, Morals in terrorist times, in Meggle (ed.), Ethics of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, Frankfurt, 2005[1916]: Public Records Office, Kew, London / War Office Records: 71/354; 71/345MacLochlainn, Piaras F., Last Words : Letters and Statements of the Leaders Executed after the Rising at Easter 1916, Dublin, 1990Bateson, Ray, They Died By Pearse's Side, Irish Graves Publications, 2010      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Another impromptu episode. This time about the Irish hip hop band Kneecap and the recent furore they've stirred. My reasons for talking about them will become evident. I've also added some memories about policing Divis.Kneecap row: police assessing ‘kill MP’ and ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ footage Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

This episode further examines the Provisional IRA's assertion that there was no alternative to armed struggle. Works cited:White, Robert W., Provisional Irish Republicans: an Oral and Interpretive History, Westport, Greenwood Press, 1993Hennessey, Thomas, Northern Ireland: the Origins of the Troubles, Dublin, Gill & Macmillan, 2005Smith, Anthony D., Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History, Oxford, Blackwell, 2001   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Just another impromptu episode in respect of the PSNI Chief Constable's recent despondency at our politician's seeming indifference to the policing budget, and the fact that 'fit for duty' police numbers are dangerously low  and overstretched. I also briefly talk about my feelings surrounding the continuing intransigence of the Intelligence Services concerning the murder of Sean Brown.Benn should 'do the right thing' after murdered GAA official court rulingChief constable 'speechless' at 'beyond disappointing' budgetClick here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Moving forward I consider some statements made in the past by PIRA volunteers in respect of 'engineering' the conflict, or, conversely, having the armed struggle forced upon them by the actions of the British. As ever I must admit to straying off on one - or two - tangents, such as a 'murder safari', a term I've coined for, well, it'll become evident...Sources referred to in this episode:Alonso, Rogelio, The IRA and Armed Struggle, London and New York: Routledge, 2007Hennessey, Thomas, Northern Ireland: the Origins of the Troubles, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 2005MacStiofáin, Seán, Memoirs of a Revolutionary, Edinburgh: Gordon Cremonesi, 1975O'Doherty, Malachi, The Trouble with Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA, Belfast: Blackstaff, 1998White, Robert W., Provisional Irish Republicans: an Oral and Interpretive History, Westpoint, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Another impromptu episode, of sorts, before I continue my look at PIRA's 'no alternative' to violence and state-terrorism. Here, I'm momentarily reflecting upon Special Branch handlers, Northern Irish policing and Catholic recruitment as well as the 'post-policing gaze' that preoccupies an awful lot of police officers: past, present and probably future.         Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

The first episode looking at a new series of topics. I've an awful lot to unpack in succeeding episodes, so this is more of an episode in which I will begin to establish some factors preceding the Troubles as well as considering a small part of PIRA's Green Book and which leads me on to present day Northern Ireland's plague of violent organised crime groups. SourcesPatterson, Henry, The Politics of Illusion: a Political History of the IRA, London, Serif, 1997Jackson, Alvin, Ireland 1798 - 1998: Politics and War, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999Purdie, Bob, Was the Civil Rights Movement a Republican / Communist Conspiracy, Irish Political Studies 3English, Richard, Armed Struggle: the History of the IRA, London, Macmillan, 2003Alonso, Rogelio, The IRA and Armed Struggle, London and New York, Routledge, 2007         Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A brief addition as I wanted to close-up any loose ends before moving on to a new episode in which will be looking at PIRA and their assertion that there was no alternative to violence.It just remains for me to post two links in respect of the killing of Pearce Jordan in 1992 by the SSU.RUC man who shot unarmed PIRA man told doctor job had been "great until ceasefire"PEARSE JORDAN INQUEST FINDINGS DELIVERED    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Pausing my consideration of Stakeknife and asset handling for now. I sure I can pick up this thread again once the Op Kenova report is finally published, but for now I want to concentrate on future episodes examining other topics in the context of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Troubles.I close this episode with a few anecdotal reflections on the PIRA ceasefires as well as a 'class' system of sorts within the Royal Ulster Constabulary.     Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Another very short interlude just in respect of those who've been discovering my first couple of episodes and if my novel is still available.The link is here. It's self-published as I wrote it as personal therapy, more than anything else. I've kept the price for the paperback as low as I can (it really just covers Amazon's costs etc.). I've embedded portions of actual events I was aware of while in the RUC, together with blending the testimonies of real world individuals, as well as a bit of subtext.Sample pages are free to read on Amazon, so have a cursory read first if interested. Many thanks!The Bitter End of Dreams (paperback)    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

A lot packed into this episode, partly by design, partly by divergence. Continuing on the theme of assets, handlers, TCG and RUC Special Branch. How were things managed, or mismanaged? Troubles' history remains fertile ground into which black propaganda may be seeded by both state and non-state actors. Each 'side' alluding that they fought a 'just war', but all sides drowned in their dirty war.This episodes concludes with three murders: two by Irish republicans, one by the RUC.Future episodes will continue to examine the 'intelligence war' as well as 'acts of terror' employed by both state and non-state actors during the Troubles. Works cited:O'Rawe, Richard, Stakeknife's Dirty War, Merrion Press, Ireland, 2023McKittrick, David, et al, Lost Lives, Revised Edition, Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International