There is an inextricable link between Politics (Government) and Policing/Security.
The murder of Pat Finucane underscores this link from the crime itself which reeked of collusion to the decision by a new British Labour Government to order a Public Inquiry.
“Policing is fundamentally a political process, even in circumstances where the police service as an institution is relatively independent of government and accountable to the law. The specific actions of 'the police' as an institution involves the exercise of power, relates to liberty and freedom, and relies upon authority, all of which inevitably raise political questions”. University of Leicester 1998 [1]
Fundamental Questions also arise for the Dublin Government regarding its failure to review the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings and to debate the discredited Smithwick Report.
[1] Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order 1998 (unpublished)
Pat Finucane was brutally assassinated in front of his family on the 12 February 1989. He was marked out for elimination in a plot hatched by British agents and UDA Gunman Brian Nelson
The fact surrounding his killing are well known and have been publised and written about by many sources. There is no doubt as to the identity and motives of those involved in his killing. Sir John Stevens headed three inquiries into collusion in Northern Ireland involving loyalist agents and British Security assets. His reports have not been published but his own book is very clear on what he encountered, which was collusion and criminality on a grand scale. One honest and professional police officer.
Obstruction of my inquiries
Throughout my inquiries I recognised that I was being obstructed. This
obstruction was cultural in its nature and widespread within parts of the
army and the RUC. It was only through the efforts of my team that I was able
to identify and arrest Nelson in January 1990. When he was interviewed, it
was discovered that he had been in possession of an “intelligence dump”.
This had been seized by his FRU handlers (Force Research Unit) when my first inquiry had begun,in September 1989. This evidence had been concealed from my team.
There was a clear breach of security before the planned arrest of Nelson and other senior loyalists. Information was leaked to the loyalist paramilitaries and the press. This resulted in the operation being aborted.
Nelson was advised by his FRU ( Force Research Unit) handlers to leave home the night before. A new date was set for the operation on account of the leak. The night before
the new operation my incident room was destroyed by fire. This incident, in my opinion, has never been adequately investigated and I believe it was a deliberate act of arson.
During my first inquiry I asked to examine particular documents but received written statements that they did not exist. My latest inquiry team has now recovered all these documents. The dates recorded on them show that they all existed at the time of my first request. Much of the effort of this inquiry has had, yet again, to be spent building up its own intelligence database and in so doing discovering that it has not been given a full and
proper disclosure.
Conclusion
During the course of my three inquiries 9,256 statements have been taken,
10,391 documents recorded (totaling over 1 million pages) and 16,194
exhibits seized.
This has led to 144 arrests. So far 94 persons have been convicted.
To date 57 separate reports have been submitted to the DPPNI for his
direction. I have uncovered enough evidence to lead me to believe that
the murders of Finucane and Lambert could have been prevented. I also
believe that the RUC investigation of Finucane’s murder should have
resulted in the early arrest and detection of his killers”.
Additionally Stevens later told a House of Commons Committee hearing
when asked about agents.
“There was the RUC, MI5, the Army doing different things and when you talk about intelligence, of the 210 people we arrested only three weren’t agents”
DUBLIN REACTION
There will be considerable satisfaction and vidication in in Dublin that the new Labour British government has agreed to set up a public inquiry under their 2005 Inquiries Act. However there are questions for the Dublin Government in managing there own affairs. Key questions relate to the infamous Smithwick Inquiry and the failure to hold a Public Sworn Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings of 1974 which they have inexplicably handed over to the British.
Context
The Good Friday Agreement 1998 set the scene for a total reset of relationships beween -both governments and the people living on this isand North and South. The Weston Park Agreement 2001 set in place certain modalities to ensure that the most egregious murders would be submitted to a process headed by retired Canadian Judge Cory. His task was to recommend whats cases, if any, should be submitted for a Full Public Inquiry. The cases involved of the murders of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, Pat Finucane, Lord Justice and Lady Gibson, Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright.
Both jurisdictions were to undertake a thorough investigation of allegations of collusion in all of these cases. The Britsh passed an amending Inquiries Act 2005 and Judge Cory vehemently disagreed with the provisionsof this new Act. Dublin went ahead with the Smithwick Tribual in 2005 which reported at the end of 2013 and at an enormous cost. The British prevaricated with regard to Patrick Finucane murder, until now, and it remains to be seen exactly how this will play out.
Smithwick Tribunal
The Smithwick Tribunal issued its report on 3 December 2013, having commenced in 2005, finding there had been collusion between members of the Gardaí and the IRA, which resulted in the deaths of the two officers. The report was not debated in the Dáil.
This Tribunal caused immense reputational damage to serving and retired member of An Garda Síochána. It was based on a false premise which owed its origins to Toby Harnden who published a book "Bandit Country" in 1999. Harnden refused to gove evidence to the Tribunal but at that stage the damage had already been done. This reputational damge contributed in no small way to the attitude taken by the Irsh Governent post 2014 to the Force. There was determination to undermine and replace the structure and leadership of the Force and replace it with Visiting Police Force officers, particularly Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris PSNI/RUC (2018) and then followed more of the same from similar backgrounds.
Significant witness included, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, Charlie Flanagan TD, Jim Higgins TD, Brian Hayes TD, Kevin Myers journalist, Peter Keeley/Kevin Fulton, self declared British Army agent and in the wings Freddie Scappaticci Stakeknife. None of the witnesses who attended had a screed of evidence to offer.
The central premise of the Tribual was that the "mole" was one of three gardaí who had been named publicly at the Tribunal. The theory was debunked when Mr. Harris gave evidence and declared that the "mole was" not one of these three but incredibly it was another garda who he could not name.
Tribunal Transcript
ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE DREW HARRIS, HAVING PREVIOUSLY BEEN SWORN, RETURNS TO THE WITNESS-BOX AND IS FURTHER EXAMINED BY MRS. LAVERTY AS FOLLOWS:
18 October 2012 - Day 124
CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Mr. Harris. You are already sworn.
MRS. LAVERTY: Yes. I think, Mr. Harris, you were about to embark on cross-examination by my colleagues, but there is just one question that I want to ask you before that happens --
Yes.-- arising out of your information already given to the Tribunal, evidence. I just want to clarify, that one of the pieces of intelligence already supplied to the Tribunal recently indicated that intelligence relating to PIRA, indicated that PIRA had received information regarding Chief Superintendent Breen and Superintendent Buchanan from a detective AGS officer who had not been publicly associated to the Smithwick Tribunal, and that this individual had been paid a considerable amount of finance for this information.
THIS WAS THE SO CALLED FOURTH MAN THEORY
A. No, there is no name that I can associate with that bit of Intelligence.
This is probably the reason why his evidence was described as "Nonsense on Stilts" by counsel.
Judge Smithwick declared in his report.
23.1.2 Collusive acts are, by they very nature, surreptitious. Absent a phone call or incriminating bank transfer, if collusion has occurred, the evidence of it will almost certainly be difficult to find. In the instant case, leaving to one side the question of intelligence, the Tribunal has not uncovered direct evidence of collusion. There is no record of a phone call, no traceable payment, no smoking gun.
This was the point where Judge Smithwick should have admitted that he had no evidence after the many years of "investigation". The facts as produced did not support the original hypothesis or any other hypothesis.
Wittingly or unwittingly the Judge had fallen victim to the Operation Collusion South conspiracy. This was a dertermined and false attempt by Northern interests aided by helpful idiots to ensure that the manifest collusion in many egrigious crimes in the North were counterbalanced by a parity of collusion in the South. This attempt was successful at least initially, due to the complete failure by Dublin to interrogate and debate the findings of the Tribunal, in an academically robust fashion with due riguor and impartiality.
Operation Collusion South
The political landscape was changing in Ireland for the better in 2005. The PIRA declared an end to their armed campaign on the 28.7.2005. This move was to pave the way for the inclusive political progress which was to follow. There was however the legacy of horrendous crimes committed and the malign question of collusion by British Security Forces and the RUC in those crimes. The “solution” was to have several judge led inquiries into those
allegations. The overwhelming number of the collusion allegations related to Northern Ireland. It was obvious that the British side or at least elements of it would not accept that these should be confined only to allegationsbmade against their institutions. This is how the drive for “parity of collusion’ inquiries came about. The driving impetus for this initiative
came from, journalists, security elements, loyalists, northern politicians aided by some Fine Gael politicians in the south. This loose coalition became the Operation Collusion South initiative. There is no doubt that some of these individuals were acting in good faith. Others had no such noble motives and were actively pursuing definite nefarious objectives. The
intelligence agencies often refer to “helpful idiots”, those people who can be quietly manipulated and used for their purposes. Also, the British agencies have enormous resources both electronic and human. They runagents and informants including“participating informants90” as a matter of course.
It is rarely appreciated in Dublin the degree to which the British Intelligence and Security Services are formally included in their political system. The British Prime Minister
occupies a strong formal directive role in their operations. Plausible deniability is built into that equation. Similarly, these agencies have a direct interest in protecting the commercial interests of their country not just the security issues.
It is never too late to do the right thing!
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Sir John Stevens was a true coppers' copper, did his job without fear or favour.