Dead Men Talking

national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Friday January 27, 2006 18:33 by Bicriu

Nicholas Davies- Dead Men Talking

The troubles in Northern Ireland

I have recently read this book. a few questions i'd like answered are: how did someone within the leadership of the IRA not cop the identity of steak knife? especially if he was passing on information that could only be privy to people at an IRA army council meeting or those very close to the leadership. There were numerous events cited where plot were mysteriously sabotaged and yet he seemed beyond suspicion. if the leadership of the Ira had learned anything from history it is that you suspect those people that you would never think of suspecting.
for example to cite just one case from the book, the fru informant known as "jimmy" an ira man phones scap' about torturing jimmy and then a short term later the informant is suddenly picked up by the sas just before the ira unit can get to him. it seems to me that someone close to Freddie was working for the fru too. possiblt the guy who phoned him. of course the author doesn't mention who he was.
I wonder then is steaknife not a collective term for a number of senior informants at the heart of the IRA?

I got the distinct impression the writer knows more than he revealed in the book. perhaps that is due to monetary considerations or because of legal considerations until the info actually is released into the public domain.

another question i have is: why did Nelson decide to pass on the information about the plot to kill Gerry Adams since according to the author he was hell-bent on getting rid of as many Sinn Fein and IRA members as possible.
At first i thought the British intelligence agencies were keen to save Adams life because it would make him into a martyr and thus bolster the numbers of the IRA but it seems far more likely Adams had in fact been working for MI5 at this stage and as a consequence they were desperate to keep him alive as he was pursuing a peace strategy.
events such as the sas ambush of eight ira men would strengthen his position to and demoralise those who advocated resistance against seeking a negotiated peace.

also at the time of Nelson's death i was sceptical because it seemed too good to be true that he was dead-it was all too convenience and coincidental. and here we have the writer airing these thoughts.

I guess the truth of it all will come out in thirty years time when all concerned are likely to be dead.