Saturday, December 17, 2005
British rogue elements still a danger
As former Sinn Féin member Denis Donaldson prepares for a life outside Ireland after admitting working as a British agent for the past 20 years, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness has insisted the only spy ring which operated out of Stormont was operated by British Intelligence Services.McGuinness said he does not know why Denis Donaldson did what he did, but he says the implications are enormous.
Referring to the alleged British spy ring, he said its purpose was to collapse the institutions set up under the Good Friday Agreement, a purpose decided by people who were not prepared to accept the accord, and that the ring was operated by what he calls "securocrats hostile to the peace process".
While I tend to be sceptical of anything Sinn Féin say, I don't believe they are being dishonest on this issue. As I have acknowledged on previous occasions, there is a dirty track record in the Irish peace process of rogue elements within British intelligence who seek to create unstability.
If you check United Irelander's sidebar under the 'British State Collusion' section, you'll find a post entitled 'MI5' which highlights information on these rogue elements published by former RTE, BBC and Channel 4 journalist Joe Tierney in his book, 'The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings and the Murder Triangle". In light of yesterday's developments, I think it would be worthwhile to once again highlight the following passage from the book:
(From page 265)
"As mentioned in chapter 1, the decision by loyalists, assisted by their undercover allies in the various branches of the security forces, to bomb the Republic was taken shortly after the signing of the Sunningdale Agreement in December 1973 - long before the start of the UWC strike.
"The objective of both the bombings and the strike was twofold: (a) to collapse the Agreement and undermine the British Prime Minister of the time, Harold Wilson, whom sections of the right-wing British establishment believed was a closet communist with links to the Soviet Union and who was soft on republicanism and (b) to force the Dublin government into cracking down hard on activites of the IRA.
"On a visit to Dublin in 1972, as leader of the Labour Opposition, Harold Wilson had said in a speech that he could envisage a united Ireland within fifteen years. The speech outraged those right wing elements, including a group of right wing officers within MI5, who Wilson himself believed later plotted against him.
"In an interview with two British journalists, Barry Penrose and Roger Courtiour, in 1976, and shortly after his resignation, Wilson claimed that a right wing MI5 faction had been collaborating with American and South African intelligence to organise a smear campaign against him in the 1974/75 period.
"'I'm not certain,' Wilson declared, 'that for the last eight months when I was Prime Minister I knew what was happening fully in Security.'
"He complained that the security services were incapable of distinguishing between socialism and communism and that a story had been put about of a 'pro-Soviet cell in No 10'. He alleged a level of interference by the security services that bordered on professional treachery and suggested a Royal Commission be set up to examine their accountability."
Shocking stuff I'm sure you'll agree. Mr Tierney's book is well worth a read. Yesterday meanwhile, Denis Donaldson had this to say:
"I was not involved in any republican spy ring in Stormont. The so-called Stormontgate affair was a scam and a fiction, it never existed, it was created by Special Branch."
I don't doubt this. It seems to me that there are still elements in British intelligence, unbeknownst to Tony Blair, who seek to create instability in Ireland. As was the case with Harold Wilson, these rogue elements aren't afraid to challenge the authority of the British Prime Minister.
These rogue elements have proven a threat to people right across the island of Ireland and it is clear that they continue to pose a threat. These rogue elements need to be tackled.
They are a grave danger to both islands.
# posted by United Irelander @ 2:52 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
