Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland

by Martin Ingram, Greg Harkin

An explosive exposé of how British military intelligence really works-from the inside. This book presents the stories of two undercover Brian Nelson, who worked for the Force Research Unit (FRU), aiding loyalist terrorists and murderers in their bloody work; and the man known as Stakeknife, deputy head of the IRA's infamous "Nutting Squad," the internal security force that tortured and killed suspected informers.

This book is copublished with O'Brien Press, Dublin and is for sale only in the United States, it's territories and dependencies, Canada, and the Philippines.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland, Politics, Irish Literature, Crime

266 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2004

Reviews

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The case of 'Stakeknife' has become another notorious episode in the 'dirty war' conducted by shady elements of British forces during the Troubles. This book, in part a whistleblowing exercise by 'Martin Ingram', an agent for the FRU, one of the British intelligence services at the time, and in part an expose by Sunday People journalist, Greg Harkin, who exposed Stakeknife in 2003.

Most of the allegations made in the book are now so well known they do little to shock, reading the book 10 years after publication, and indeed many more wide reaching allegations have been made about the levels of state collusion in the conflict since then, many of them corroborated by HET. These acts, like the acts carried out by all 'combatants' were reprehensible, but the full truth of what went on will probably never be known.

Unfortunately, such unanswered questions, and the desire for justice from all sides for acts like these are some of the greatest obstacles to progress in NI today. One can only hope that our divided politicians find a solution to dealing with the issues sooner rather than later and help to facilitate the silent majority within the country who wish to move on...

[Khrustalyov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and often shocking exposé of the extent of collusion between British security services and paramilitaries during the Troubles. Written by a former army intelligence officer turned whistleblower (Ingram) and a seasoned reporter (Harkin), this book is as its best in revealing some of the shadowy mechanisms and techniques at play in 'Britain's dirty war' in Northern Ireland, especially in the 1980s.

The book was no doubt rushed out in the aftermath of the IRA's top intelligence operative Freddie Scappaticci being unmasked as Stakeknife, the British army's most important secret agent in Northern Ireland. It's a shame, because it needed more work on a clear structure and many of its themes deserved more development. As well as feeling a bit rushed, Ingram and Harkin's chapters did not always lead into one another very well. In many ways this would have been a better book had Ingram simply been a major source for Harkin, rather than one of the authors.

That said, the book is compelling, particularly in Harkin's central chapters, and some of the cases they expose are gripping. The complex machinations involving army agents in both the UDA and IRA were very intriguing, especially in cases that brought both together. The willingness of the army's Force Research Unit and RUC to sacrifice not only lower-grade IRA members, but innocent civilians and even their own agents was shocking if not surprising.

It's a shame that books like this will not have any material impact on justice. No doubt after the Troubles died down the same techniques were being employed elsewhere, perhaps in campaigns involving Jihadist terror groups in England.

[Jim Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ian Hurst has a massive chip on his shoulder, which is offset only by Greg Harkin's "professionalism" as a journalist to try to balance Hurst's bias with his own.

As a background to some of the incidents in the run-up to the AAA and GFA, it is a useful source. How useful it is depends on the truthfulness of Hurst's accounts; given that he is now living in the South, and married to a woman with Republican connections, these are questionable. When Hurst was working for Det West, how does he have so much information from Det East? Is he a primary source, or is this all speculation and hearsay? As a junior NCO in the unit, he would not have been in contact with agents, so his work is based wholly on what he has heard instead of what he has experienced.

Posing with a rifle, wearing civvies, next to a Q car does not make you an agent handler - it makes you a wannabe.

I question his motivations. Hurst has turned into a mouthpiece of some of the less salubrious movements of the South, and his choice of publisher corroborates this. Bizarre, considering his EDL connections...

Making money from searching the electoral register does not a spook make.

[Pat Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tangled web of Northern Ireland during The Trouble comes to life in this book, which comes from a British intelligence officer involved in Northern Ireland in that time. Essentially a whistle-blower, this agent exposes in some detail the actions of the British in allowing violence and murder -- yes, murder -- to protect the people they used as informants.

The title of the book refers to the casual name of one high ranking IRA official who worked as a double agent, killing people the IRA considered 'touts' while feeding information to the British. According to the book, the British did this with Stakeknife and many others during the Troubles.

Which leads to the question that may never be answered: Did the British participate in state-sponsored violence and killings, sometimes of innocent people, in their efforts to deal with the IRA and others who used violence and killing to try to bring Northern Ireland into the Irish state? And is state-sponsored collusion with paramilitaries that leads to violence and killing acceptable?

[Neil M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and it has not improved over time. Having come from the same career path as the author, I am always dubious about 'whistleblowers' who dispute the Official Secrets Act once they have broken it, seriously sympathize with the 'enemy', seek alternate citizenship and are amazed that they had their house broken into on the lookout for evidence. Undisputedly, the fouc if the book is based from heresay information, gleaned from colleagues. All the author did was turn his skills against his friends - who volunteered for the role as he did - and report what he heard,with some interesting embellishments. I don't disagree that some of what he alleges is true but to report it under the guise of 'whistleblowing' after everything he would have learned about the FRU and their techniques as an intelligence corps operator is disputed. I would have been happier abd the book would have been better if it had been written by an investigative journalist or similar.

[Katarin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Britain’s spies in the North of Ireland, told mostly from the perspective of a former UK spy-turned-whistleblower. Packed full of multiple accounts of how running so many spies undermined IRA plans but also resulted in a lot of Irish deaths.

The author gets in his feelings at one point about how many informers the IRA killed during the Troubles, clearly upset. But I can’t help but recognize that a major part of the decision by the UK to run an Intelligence-first fight that required running so many spies was no doubt BECAUSE it viewed the inevitable loss of Irish life as cheap.

Like yeah, the IRA did bad shit, but the UK govt had to KNOW that a percentage of the informants they cultivated would be caught & executed & deemed that a much better bargain that British soldiers dying.

Like who are the real bad guys here, my guy?

[Trae Mitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting counterpoint to Fishers of Men. Unfortunately, the tone of the authors come off as holier-than-thou, "it's not me, it's them" when detailing one of the author's role in the Troubles. I also found it interesting that Irving took credit for many of the same things that Rob Lewis did in Fishers of Men, but somehow feels like he was a "good" agent, while Lewis was "bad." Considering the whole premise of espionage and military intelligence is built on lying and deceit toward your enemy, I find it hard to believe Irving claims to find such subterfuge distasteful. While the book does provide some very interesting accounts of individual situations and FRU actions during the conflict, it reads more like the authors' self-acquittal and laundry list of complaints about others.

[Thomass Bigt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was recommended to read this and honestly it was very average. I guess it was cool to see the reality of the Troubles and to learn about it mpre in-depth and the involvement of the British Government.

Although, I will also be reading 'Fishers of Men' by alias Rob Lewis afterwards which, as we see in the end of the this book, turned his back on Martin Ingram, who is a whistleblower. I'm not too sure how I feel about this. But I guess we'll see once I read the book.

Other than that, it was interesting and sad to see how many innocent people had to die during these times and it's crazy to think this wasn't that long ago either.

[Bobby24 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, highly informative and readable...i came away from this thinking that the British took the piss out of both sides..someone once described the war in Northern Ireland as a live training ground for the various intelligence services..this to me makes sense, it was never out of their control. It was not a "green war" like the Rhodesian bush war for instance, it was a war waged by Army and police intelligence whom then sent their madmen around to a targets home whilst they were eating dinner. To think Britain lectures the world on morality is just unbelievable.

[Mr Michael R Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just One Of Dozens

Just one of dozens of the books written about 'The Troubles', 'The Secret War', Op Banner. etc.
All the authors claim that their unit was the stand out unit, the one that made a difference, be it FRU, 14 Int, JSG and so on.
As you read you begin to wonder if there was a single murder committed, by either side, that the Security Forces did not know about beforehand.
Yet Op Banner lasted so long!!

[Wendy Charlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a feeling that this would be controversial and I can imagine some will love it and others hate it. It is a compelling read and some will be quite shocked at some of the events that took place with the knowledge of the government. They were different times and although it was never referred to as a war it really was. With hindsight there were injustices on both sides and I would hope that the world has moved on and different decisions would be made today.

[Rhemaboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative read

What a troubled time for such a beautiful country.
Not convinced the real truth will ever been known.

I’m thankful that today’s generation doesn’t have to live through the lies and hateful thoughts of certain people. One day the true judgement will come, May God have mercy on their souls.

[Tim Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a closer look at tensions between the IRA & the British and particularly the role that the British Government played in supporting informers, including the support of murderers and a willingness to sacrifice innocent people in order to save "high value" people.
It's a little mindboggling to hear this book & consider that this was happening in a world that is close to you and I.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy! Absolutely nuts. British state-sponsored kidnapping, abductions, torture and murder routinely engaged in while conducting operations on Northern Ireland. I feel very lucky to live in a country where there is oversight on police, military and government actions.

[Mark Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly harrowing detail of one of the most infamous individuals throughout the Troubles. While most of the details within the book have been released, Ingram's account of what had happened and how the British Government knew what was happening, truly makes you think what else occurred.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio and unfortunately found myself drifting in and out. I got a bit confused with the acronyms and who was who and probably would have been better off physically reading.

Interesting though.

[Brian McNally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good insight into Britain’s dirty war in Ireland

[Geordie Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in spots

Interesting enough, if not a great page-turner. Some of the events needed substantially more detail.
Would like to see a follow up.

[Beata Horała · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okazuje się, ze nie wszystko jest takie czarnobiałe. Ciekawa lektura dla zainteresowanych tematem „Troubles”.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teriffic

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rat at the top of the table. Good read with no happy ending

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want an insight into how the British Force Research Unit (FRU) worked in Northern Ireland during The Troubles then you won't go far wrong with his book. It shows how they used informers (agents or touts) in the IRA. Although it was the concern of the RUC to handle informers in the loyalist movement it also seems that the FRU handled some of these as well.

The book tries to expose how the FRU handlers knew that some it's agents were murdering people. The IRA executing it's members who they felt were informers but may not have been. Did the FRU know that their agents were murdering people? Did the FRU pass on information that would get these people killed?

War is dirty, terrorism is wrong and it seems that anything goes when trying to stop this. Is it right what the FRU did or did they go too far. i certainly have my opinion and I'm sure you'll have yours after reading this.

[Conor Rafferty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because I picked it up cheap in August, and read a few chapters back then. It lay on the shelf until after I finished watching the Love/Hate box set which renewed my interest in the IRA and the Troubles. I read it in two days. Absolutely riviting. Details the twists and turns taken by agents and their handlers. Of personal poignancy because I was personally accquainted with one of StakeKnife's victims through a sports club.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book although unsurprisingly given the subject matter I did have to keep flicking back and fore to keep up. It is a detailed and thorough account of the use of informers within Northern Ireland, especially for two cases in particular and the extents to which agents went to protect their informers. Overall a good read but concentration is needed in parts.

[Mr Allan Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This for me was a huge eye opener as to how the troubles in Northern Ireland developed to collaboration between police and terrorists to subsequently set up informants. A chilling read that brings out how complicated and cruel the situation was in Northern Ireland.

[Breandan]

An explosive expose of how british military intelligence works - from the inside.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing style could be better, but what is revealed about British state terrorism in this book is absolutely worth reading. I had no idea all of that was going on.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explosive expose of Westminsters involvement and collusion in the death's of innocent people during the troubles. Told from the viewpoint of an ex member of the FRU in the British Army.