DEVILISH PLAN TO DESTROY OUR HISTORY…. THE CIVIL RIGHTS MURAL

Bogside Artists Derry

DEVILISH PLAN TO DESTROY OUR HISTORY..

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MURAL.

The picture below shows about as much as anyone will see of the Civil Rights mural – one of the most famous murals in the entire gallery and a favourite to a great many. It captures the character and nature of the first marches for civil rights way back in 1998.

The Free Derry Museum considered by us a Sinn Fein bunker, irrespective of what other presences may be on it, intend to build a ramp across it as part of their much-planned, much-funded redesign. The museum as an entity is held in very high esteem because of its association with Bloody Sunday. All the more reason why this particular abuse of that universal esteem and the tragedy it is built upon cannot but be condemned by all of us.

We were not consulted about the ramp. We phoned Brennnan’s Architectural firm about the lunacy and got “George” on the line who informed us they were “not building a new ramp but only reconfiguring an old one.” We asked him if the ramp was going across the mural. He said “it wouldn’t touch the mural”. George’s spiel we took to be a word game so familiar to us as characteristic of Sinn Fein conmanship.

We were told by a friend that an artist’s impression of the ramp show it clearly cutting across the mural rendering it virtually invisible. The fact that it doesn’t “touch” the mural hardly lessens the intended vandalism on what is a prized treasure to the community if not the free world.

And if it doesn’t touch the mural you can bet all you have on the probability that it will be placed near enough to it to prevent us putting scaffolding in front of it in order to restore it.

George said the design had been published and was common knowledge. In actual fact, planning permission was granted (by whom?) on February 3rd. Few we talked to could recall ever having seen it.

We have responded in plenty of time therefore but scour the net as we did for hours we could find no picture of said design. However we did find evidence that once upon a time there had been a picture of it in The Derry Journal. We found the page but there was no picture, its mysterious absence making nonsense of most of the text based around it.

Here is the link (http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/ambitious-plans-for-museum-of-free-derry-go-on-display-1-2146609).

According to Adrian Kerr manager of Free Derry Museum the local community are behind this preposterous madness to a man. This is a lie of course. Only those outside of the Intensive Care Unit of Gransha and a small coterie of morally redundant Shinners could possibly ever support such a blatant act of vandalism. No right thinking man ever could. And only a fool could fail to see what it is really about…. destroying The People’s Gallery.

Vinny Coyle whose late father is rightly known as the “Chief Steward of the Civil Rights Movement” has this to say:….

“Nobody is wiping my dad out of history or all the other men and women depicted in the mural who fought a long struggle for human rights. I will shackle myself to the railings if need be and so will my family and a thousand others.”

Our response?.. “We are with Vinny Coyle. What is the alternative?

And why are we being pushed into combating this sort of horror over and over again? Have all the people of the Bogside been turned into sheep that they would stand back and let such a crime against them and their history take place before their eyes and bear the insult into the bargain by being told to their faces that they had actually agreed to it?

What seems to be the working method of the Shinners these days is that a few of them rendezvous at Pilot’s Row for a chin-wag and then they announce through their propaganda machine next day that a “community meeting took place in the Bogside and this was agreed and that decided and this approved of etc, etc, blah, blah, blah…” when nothing of the sort actually took place. There was no cross section of the community present at any such meeting NOR WAS ANY EXPECTED. Times and publicity concerning such meetings are constructed in such a way as to guarantee a majority of Shinners being present. Now you see them, now you don’t.

The ramp has been thought up to destroy the unity of the gallery and serves no other purpose. Be very clear about that.

Also, we may remind Mr. Kerr that museums the world over exist to serve history and art; NOT to destroy them. The Mona Lisa was not painted for the Louvre. The Louvre was built to house the Mona Lisa.

You would think a manager of a museum would have some grasp of that simple concept but not so Mr. Kerr who is to museum curatorship apparently what a blind man is to taxi driving. If he were even qualified for the post he might have something to argue in his defense. But, he isn’t. And really, this sort of thing cannot be defended anyway.

What we have here is premeditated diabolical vandalism accompanied by contemptible deception of, and disrespect for the entire community of the Bogside.

http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/ambitious-plans-for-museum-of-free-derry-go-on-display-1-2146609

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SMASH INTERNMENT FREE MARIAN PRICE

Paul Mckee

2 years ago today, Marian Price was taken by the RUC on spurious charges, and immediately put into solitary confinement in MagHaberry gaol.. Her health declined and when she made bail, the British government stepped in and played their trump card of Interning her having first made sure evidence was destroyed. 2 years and still no justice, people through out the world are still demanding answers. FREE MARIAN PRICE —

ADAMS ‘LACKS RESOURCES’ TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST RTE

SINN Fein pPresident Gerry Adams has ruled out legal action against RTE and Marian O’Callaghan due to a lack of resources. It had been speculated in the aftermath of last week’s hard-hitting Prime Time interveiw that the Louth TD was considering suing the the Republic’s state broadcaster over Ms O’Callaghan’s dogging interviewing about Mr Adam‘s past. But speaking after Thursday’s meetingw with the family of Brian Stack, a Portlaoise prison officer murdered by the IRA 30 years ago, the former West Belfast MP quashed rumours of an impeding action. “Firstly what was said was clearly actionable but whether I would take on RTE, Prime Time and the rest of them with all their resources is a different matter,” he said. “One part of me has come to terms with the fact that there sections of the media who appear to think they can say what they want about me without impunity.” Mr Adams, who earlier flew to the United States to undergo private prostate surgery, said  he lacked the necessary resources to pursue a legal action.

With many thanks to : Irish News.

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Ex -IRA MAN LOSES BID FOR ‘IMMUNITY’ AGAINST CONVICTION

‘ We consider that any of the grounds of appeal haveAssemblyde out - Lord Chief Justice Declan Morgan.

A FORMER IRA man’s bid to overturn his conviction for attempted murder has been rejected. Lawyers for Co Tyrone man Gerry McGeough said he had been assured immunity from prosecution by a Sinn Fein representative.

The lawyers argued that criminal proceedings that led to McGeough being jailed for trying to kill part-time soldier Samuel Brush 32 years ago were an abuse of process. Central to his case was an allegation that North Belfast assembly member Gerry Kelly, pictured below, had assured McGeough in 2000 that he would not be charged if he returned to the North from being on the run. McGeough had escaped from hospital after being wonded when his victim – now a DUP councillor – returned fire in the ambush. He cotended that Mr Kelly had given him a binding primise on behalf of the Stormont executive.

Gerry Kelly

Lord Chief Justice Declan Morgan pointed to legal authorites which set out that an abuse of process depended on an unequivocal guarantee of immunity being by those bringing the criminal case. ” We do not consider that the evidence indicates any basis for the conclusion that Mr Kelly was a represntative of verdict and esponsible forhonduct of the investigation or prosecutions, ” the judge said. “We further agree that in any event the statement attributed to Mr Kelly, who did not give evidence, did not contain any representation, never mind one which could be said to be unequivocal for the purpose of this test.” Mr Brush was working as a postman when he was shot and seriously wonded near Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone in June 1981. McGeough (54), from Dungannon, was convicted in 2011 of attempted murder, possession of firearms with intent to commit an indictable offence and IRA membership. He was jailed for 20 years but released earlier  this year under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The one-time gunrunner was not in court yesterday to hear judges throw out all grounds of the appeal. Correspondence from the Northern Ireland Office to Mr Kelly in 2003 was introudeced during the case. The letter included McGeough in a list of six people who would face arrest and questioning if they returned to the North of Ireland.

As part of a disclosure process evidence was also called from William Smyth of the Progressive Unionist Party. He claimed to have attended a meeting with former Secretary of State Mo Mowlam during negotiations leading up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It was alleged that she had confirmed that those who had committed offences during the Troubles for which they had not been convicted would not be prosecuted. Mr Smyth also stated that those who came forward to admit their crimes would serve two years in jail while those who refused to accept guilt would apparenty face no punishment. Sir Declan, sitting with Lords Justices Higgins and Girvan, said : “Such an outcome would be absurd. “The learned disclosure judge concluded, in our veiw inevitabilty, that Mr Smyth’s evidence that the issue of on-the-runs was ‘done and dusted’ was difficult to accept.” MrGeough also failed to establish that it was unfair to try him because of the passage of time. Detailing his escape from hospital, subsequent proceedings against him in continental Europe and the US and a period spent in the Republic, Sir Declan held that any delay in the trail was McGeough’s responsibility. “We do not consider that any of the grounds of appeal have been made out and we do not consider the convictions are unsafe,” the judge said. Mr Brush was in court for the virdict and later said he had been under no doubt the appeal would be thrown out. Dismissing McGeough’s claims to have been assured immunity, Mr Brush said : “We ars living in a fairytale land as it but to suggest that was going to take place is even worhorse .” The DUP councillor also hit out the founding being given to bring the challenge. “As far as I can see it’s another scandalous misuse of the legal aid system. It had no chance of success,” he said.

With many thanksis to : The Irish News.

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ADAMS TO MEET FAMILY OF MURDERED PRISON OFFICER

” The family of prison officer Brian Stack asked me to meet them and this will take place on Thursday evening”- Gerry Adams.

SINN Fein president Gerry Adams will tommorow meet the family  IRA victim Brian Stack – the only prison officer ever to be assassinated in the Republic. The face-to-face meeting is to be held in Leinster House at 5.30pm.

It follows a request from Mr Stack’s family who have been campaigning for decades for hisk killer to be identified. Mr Adams said they are not the first family he has meet who have been “in this same situation”. “Some were victims of the IRA. Others were killed as a result of collusion between British state forces and loyalist death squads, or by the British Army and RUC, the UDR and other armed groups,” the Louth TD said. “The grief and trauma suffered by all these families is the same. “The family of Prison Officer Brian Stack asked me to meet them and this will take place on Thursday evening.

In their request for a meeting, the family said they were : “Looking for answers and closure and in no way are seeking any form of revenge. “From our perspective an admission of responsibility accompanied by details of the reasoning for the act by those concerned would provide that. Mr Adams said he is “happy” to meet the family, but could not “raise expectation” that Sinn Fein leadership will be able to “resolve these particular matters”. Brian Stack was Chief Prison Officer at Portlaoise jail when he was shot in the back of the neck as he left a boxing match at the National Stadium, in Dublin in March 1983. He was left paralysed and brain damaged following the attack and died from his injuries 18 months later, aged 47.

With many thanks to : Bimpe Archer, Irish News.

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SHAME FEIN PRESIDENT GERRY ADAMS DENIES KILLINGS ROLE

SHAME FEIN leader Gerry Adams has revealed he was in North Louth when farmer Tom Oliver was abducted and murdered by the Provisional IRA. However, Mr Adams rejected as a “reprehensible accusation” a claim that he had been the sole member of the ‘Court of Appeal’ that decided Mr Oliver’s fate.

The 37-year-old victim, from Riverstown on the Cooley Peninsula, was found shot dead in Belleeks, Co Armagh, in July 1991. Before his murder, the father-of-seven had been tortured by the IRA who wrongly claimed he was a Garda informer. At one time, a relative of Mr Oliver told reporters it appeared that the killers had “thumped him senceless til he’d no idea where he was or what he was saying”. Speaking to RTE‘s Prime Time, Mr Adams admitted that he had been “In the Cooleys” when the farmer was taken and killed. He said he had been on holidays with his family and had had no involvment in the events that led to Mr Oliver’s death. Mr Adams said the killing was “to be condemned” but he criticised presenter Mariam O’Callaghan for suggesting he had played any role. The Louth TD also rejected claims by former Provisional IRA members Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes that he had a role in the 1972 murder of mother-of-10 Jean McConville. Mr Adams said his accusers, both now dead, were “telling lies” because they “thought I had sold out. They thought I was a traitor”.

With many thanks to : Valerie Robinson (Southern Correspondent), Irish News.

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NO OPPOSITION – NO INCENTIVE TO SUCCEED !

 With no opposition to highlight failure (and 160 press officers to deny it) our public sector is governed by a culture of non-accountability, which filters down to failed organisations such as the Housing Executive.

 OH DEAR, things are not good at Stormont (The big House on the Hill). the DUP and Sinn Fein are making nasty remarks about each other, both claiming that their major coalition partner is unfit for government. (In the interests of equality, this column agrees with both sides.) So what went wrong ? Why has the romance of a few years ago disappeared in a welter of accusation and recrimination ? Were they just in love with themselves and not each other and how will this lovers ‘ tiff end – in divorce or at  a romantic dinner ? (Either way, like their libel losses, taxpayers will foot the bill.)

There are many explanations for the failure of Storming as there are MLAs. We have time for only three. The first is the catch-22 analysis, based on the novel by Joseph Heller. In it, US pilots in the Second World War were deemed crazy to fly any further missions. But if they refused to fly, they were regarded as sane – and therefore fit to fly. The two main parties at Storming might be viewed in a similar light. They would be electorally crazy to abandon their long-held (largely flag-waving) principles. So they retain their core values, which renders them electorally sane and therefore fit for power. But the only form of power available is power-sharing, which if operated fully, would render them electorally crazy by requiring them to abandon their flag-obsessed values. By institutionalising sectarianism, Storming has created an inherent contradiction for the DUP and Sinn Fein. They are required to have one message for their supporters but the opposite message for their coalition partner. Supporters have now copped on, so both parties have taken a step back from their loving relationship.

The second theory is the spoiled child syndrome. When Stormont was re-established, the media regarded it as surpassing the Second Coming. No praise was too great. No superlatives were to super. Ian Paisley (later Peter Robinson ) and Martin McGuinness together – good God, they said, it is a miracle. But the role of government is not to look politically pretty. It is to govern – and Storming has significantly failed to do so. Both major parties were built largely on protest. Their style and substance of government shows that they have failed to adopt the responsibility and transparency which goes with power. So when this newspaper (Irish News), for example, asked questions about governance and ethics, Peter Robinson said we should not read The Irish News. Surprisingly, Martin McGuinness did little to distance himself from the comments. When a first minister says that citizens should not read the state’s largest-selling newspaper, his government has lost the plot – and public confidence. Each party blames the other for their government’s low standing and therein lies the present dispute.

The third theory, which this column has trailed for some time, is that without an opposition, Stormont has no incentive to succeed. The parties in power can never be replaced, so failure is always an option. With no opposition to highlight failure (and 160 press officers to deny it ) our public sector is governed by a culture of non-accountability, which filters down to failed organisations such as the Housing Executive. The public are now experiencing failure in several areas (health, housing, employment) so both main parties at Stormont feel obliged to blame the other. So there you have it – Stormont’s breakdown could be a failure of systems and structures. But in any organisation, most problems stem from managerial inability. Good managers can make the most complex structures work. Poor managers rarely deliver, even within appropriate frameworks. Perhaps not enough MLAs have the necessary skills and knowledge to make Stormont work. (Have you seen what passes for debate there ?) For example, since all parties operate at various intensities of sectarianism, none has the ideological basis necessary for developing economic policy. As a result our economy is based on the show business model – golf, fancy buildings, sports stadiums and tarting up derelict buildings to hide our decaying reailty from visitors. It has little underlying economic rationale, which begs the question : If an expert panel were to interveiw MLAs for appointment to their jobs, how many would succeed ? Yes, Jim Allister would make it – how many others ? Defeat in Gaelicf football these days tends to be explained by a confusion of systems and structures on the pitch. Defeat in hurling is useually easier to explain – the other team had better hurlers. It appears that there are simply not enough good hurlers in Stormont – and there are no plans to appoint better ones any time soon.

With many thanks to : Patrick Murphy.

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Ard fheis stetement contradicts Martin’s IRA claim

This letter appeared in the Irish News on Thursday April 18 2013

IN COMPLAINING that he does not know most of those attending events oorganised by Republicans (or ‘dissidents’, as he calls them), Martin McGuinness has unwittingly exposed the mendacity of his own distortion of the historical record.

On Friday night he told the Sinn Fein ard fheis : ” Every now and again you’ll see these so-called republicans parading…. And I look and I see these 50-year-olds, and I see these 40-year-olds…. and I don’t recoginise most of them. You know what I wonder ? I wonder where they were when there was a war.”

This statement clearly contradicts McGuinness’s claim, made under oath during the Saville inquiry, that he resigned from the IRA in 1974. Given that it is a secret orgnisation one wonders how he could have known the identies of “many” of those involved in the IRA’s “war” subsequent to his own apparent departure from it. If he is so certain that these people aged in their forties and fifties were never in the IRA we can assume that he must have been a member during the peroid when they should also have been.

Anyone who is 50 years old today would have been a child in 1974, aged 11. Since the IRA did not swear in members until they reached the age of 17, they could not have joined it until January 1980. Likewise, a 45-year-old would not have been considered for membership until 1985 and a 40-yyear old until 1990. In claiming not to recognise republicans of these ages who could who could have participated in the IRA’s “war” Martin McGuinness is now contradicting his sworn statement that he left the organisation in 1974.

It will be interesting to see whether McGuinness will be asked to clarify the very obvious tension between these claims, or whether he will be allowed to continue to manipulate the historical record for his own purposes. Given that one Derry republican was jailed for refusing to participate in the SaSeville inquiry, McGuinness’s words on this matter are of profound public iinterest.

With many thanks to : Michael Donnelly, Derry City

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REPUBLICAN KILLER JAILED BY ‘PEOPLE PLAYING GOD’ !

This article appeared in the Irish Daily Mirror today.

The family of republican killer jailed without charge three years ago told yesterday how people ” playing God ” have ruined their lives. And Colette Mathews, whose brother Martin Corey is in Maghaberry after his licence was revoked by then Secretary of State Owen Paterson, dismissed suggestions the 62-year-old is “Some dissident mastermind”. She told the Mirror : ” We will never get back the last three years. ” Three years in which Martin’s brother died while he was in jail, but we will never give up hope that we will get him home again, we all love him so much.” Corey was sent back to prison on April 16, 2010 on what his solicitor was told was a national security matter based on so-called ” closed file information “. Gerry Adams raised Corey’s continued detention at the Sinn Fein‘s Ard Fheis saying he and Marian Price, also jailed after having her licence revoked, should be freed. Ms Matthews said the three years in jail have “taken their toll” on their family, especially after the death of Martin’s younger brother Peter. She added : ” Martin just loved Peter. I feel Peter’s death certainly wasn’t helped by the fact his brother could not be there for him.” Corey was serving life for the murder of two RUC officers in 1973 when he was released as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

With many thanks to : Maurice Fitzmaurice, Irish Daily Mirror.

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MAGGIE SAVED MY LIFE

PM sent her private plane to rescue spy then brought his family to Downing St for tea-and a fish supimmediately

A BRITISH agent who iinfiltrated who infiltrated Sinn Fein to spy on Martin McGuinness has told how Maggie Thatcher helped smuggle him out of the North of Ireland as an IRA assassination gang was closing in on him. And Derry man Willie Carlin even had a private audience with the ‘ Iron Lady ‘ in her drawing room at 10 Downing Street.

It took place just days after he was spirited out of Ulster by his M15 handers in Thatcher’s Ministerial jet – which she personally put at his disposal. Carlin was lucky to escape with his life because the security forces warned him that if he stayed even an hour longer, he would have been scooped by an IRA kilker squad. We have learned that even before Mrs Thatcher meet the Derry man, she often sang the praises of MI5 agent 3007 – codenamed ‘ The Fox ‘. And on at least two occasions, she rejected RUC briefings in favour of reports written by Carlin. Shortly after he escaped out of Derry with his wife Carlin was presented to the Tory PM at a late night meeting inside 10 Downing Street. She told the diminutive Derry man : ” I have been looking at breifing notes outlining your work for years.

Codename

Willie Carlin worked for British Intelligence as a paid informet

” I only knew you by your agent number 3007 and your codename ‘ The Fox ‘. But I can’t thank you enough for all the work you have done for us over the years.” The PM added : ” It’s nice to put a face and real name to a number and a code name after all these years.The PM added : ” It’s nice to put a face and real name to a number and a code name after all these years. And I now release why they called you ‘ The Fox ‘ “. At that time Carlin had bright red hair. Mrs Thatcher also thanked Carlin’s wife Mary – who only discovered her husband was a Tout/Informer 48 hours earlier – and she even arranged a fish supper to be delivered to No 10 for the Carlin’s young daughter Maria. As far as friends and neighbours back in Derry were concerned Willie Carlin was just another Sinn Fein activist who lived with his family in Derry’s Waterside. But in reality, he was a highly-placed British agent who had just compleated a 12 year stint inside the Republican Movement where he operated undetected as a member of Martin McGuinness’s inner circle. Speaking to the Sunday World last week, Carlin, now 64, recalled the night he was introuduced to the Iron Lady and he revealed he will be attendind Margaret Thatcher’s funeral with full military honours in London next week, albeit in a private capacity. He said : ” First of all Margaret Thatcher helped save my life by allowing me to escape in her jet. That’s good enough reason to be going to her funeral. But apart from that, I admired her toughness. ” I know she was a women, but she had more balls than any IRA man Also, she never gave up. Martin McGuinness did give up. Martin McGuinness delivered the IRA – Maggie Thatcher delivered nothing !” And he added : ” I’ll be happy to salute her at the funeral next week ; she saved my life.” William Joseph Carlin was a member of a large Catholic family from Derry. He was brought up on the Creggan estate. As a young man starting out in life in the early 1960′s, he faced the bleak prospect of spending years on the dole. Determined not to go down that road, Carlin applied to join the British Army. And faced with a bright young man with a high IQ, army recruiting staff steered Carlin towards an Irish Cavalary Regiment, the Royal Irish Hussars. But after a nine year stint where he excelled as a soldier, Carlin tired of army life and in 1974, he longed to return home to Derry with his wife and young family. However, army top brass advised against the move as the Ulster Troubles were at their peak. Soon members of the British Secret Service got to hear  of Carlin’s plight and after a series of long discussions, the spooks persuaded him to work for them as a Tout/Informer inside Sinn Fein. After agreeing a handsome financial package, Carlin was told to return to Derry, find a house and settle down quietly for a period of around two years. After making contact with republicans in his home town, Carlin was given the the go ahead to return to Derry after he was given an assurance that he and his family wouldn’t be harmed as a result of him having served in the British Armed Forces. The Carlins were a well known in Derry. Willie’s father-in-law had worked alongside Martin McGuinness’s father in Brown’s foundry. And he had even been best man for McGuinness Snr., when he married Martin’s mother. The Carlins settled down to life in a house in the Waterside area. And with the cushion of an MI5 salary to finance him, Willie busied himself studying the political strategy of Sinn Fein. The Provisional IRA was still the dominant force in the Irish Republican Movement, althrough even then, moves were afoot to wean republicans away from vioence and towards democratic politics

Promotion

As iinstructed, after two years, Carlin made his move and applied to join Sinn Fein. Gradually, he gained promotion and rose through the party ranks. Eventually, he was given a full time job running a community group in the Gobnascale area, near his home. The former soldier’s natural organisational ability and gift for facts and figures meant he was ideally suited to Sinn Fein’s plans of building a credible political machine. He also became a close aide to Sinn Fein chief Martin McGuinness, now deputy First Ministef in the North of Ireland. Carlin’s roll as an MI5 agent was to photocopy documents relating to any significsnt political developments taking place inside Sinn Fein which he later delivered to his MI5 handlers. Down through the years Carlin meet his handlers at various locations around and near the city. He would go for a walk through the Ness Woods beauty spot or a quiet country road near Benone Strand, where he would find an MI5 handler eagerly awaiting his arrival. And he also met them at an old detached house on the outskirts of Limavady, named ‘ Old Forge ‘. It later transpired, this was exactly the same location where Martin McGuinness had meetings with MI5 chief Michael Oately, to discuss ways of bringing the IRA campaign of violence to an end. One of Carlin’s handlers during this period  was MI5 operative Michael Bettaney. A gay Catholic man, who smoked a pipe and was a chronic alcoholic, Bettaney very nearly blew Carlin’s cover on several occasions. But it was in 1984 after he left the North of Ireland that Bettaney did his damnedest to expose Carlin’s secret roll as an MI5 Tout/Informer operating inside Sinn Fein and working as an aide to Martin McGuinness in Derry. Bettaney had been convicted of treason at the Old Baily in London after being found guilty of trying to sell British Military secrets to the Russians. He was jailed for 23 years and served his time with a numer of IRA men convicted of a bombing campaign in England, including a couple of months later, Pat ‘Chancer’ Magee, the Brighton Bomber. It was Magee, who using a false name Roy Walshe, booked into room 629 of the Grand Hotel, Brighton, with the sole purpose of blowing up Maggie Thatcher and her Tory party Cabinet colleagues during their annual party conference in 1984 in revenge for Thatcher’s role in the hunger strikers deaths. But just weeks before Magee’s arrest, Michael Bettaney was attending mass in the prison chaple along with a number of IRA men. Consumed with anger at the severity of his sentence, Bettaney approached an IRA man and gave him the name of an MI5 operative who had been spying on Martin McGuinness and Sinn Fein for 11 years. And That name wadwas William Joseph Carlin. Using a sophisticated system of communication, the IRA man successfully pased the information to the IRA in Derry and Willie Carlin’s days as an MI5 informer were numbered.

Suitcase

Thatcher’s final farewell from the Irish Republican Army TAL32

Hoerver, as the IRA net was closing in Carlin received a phone call ordering him to pack a suitcase immediately and walk to the end of the street with his wife and children. Within an hour, the Carlin’s were safely inside Derry’s Ebrington Barracks. There were taken to Palace Barracks, Holywood, before traveling to RAF Aldergrove where they boarded Margaret Thatcher’s personsel jet. The Prime Minister had personally ordered the aircraft to be put at the Carlin’s disposal as a token of repaying all the hard and dangoures work carried out on behalf of the British Government by agent 3007. On Saturday night as preparations were well underway for next Wednesday’s controversial Thatcher funerel, the Sunday World put it to Carlin that if he was asked to emberk on such a dangerous undertaking again, would he do so. He said : ” I would find out the time of the next plane to Derry was. It was the best most exciting thing I ever did in my life. I would do it again tommorow !”

 

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