With his cover blown, McGartland was kidnapped in August 1991 by Jim "Boot" McCarthy and Paul "Chico" Hamilton, two IRA men with previous convictions for paramilitary activities. In that same year 1991, McGartland provided information about a mass shooting attack planned on Charlie Heggartys pub in Bangor, County Down, where British soldiers frequently drank after what was generally a football match between the prison wardens. In 1988, he resigned from the IRA and voluntarily surrendered to British prosecution. Belfast-born Marty infiltrated the IRA during the height of the Troubles in the 1980s for the British Secret Service. A former British agent who infiltrated the IRA says an internal police report has finally confirmed that he was targeted and shot by the group in a murder plot that he alleges was covered up by the government. Under British law, Keeley will also be billed for the newspapers legal costs. McGartland had driven the IRA gunmens getaway car and had been brought into the operation so late he had no time to advise his handlers although he had previously indicated the IRAs interest in the area. I am the victim of an attack and I got around 50,000 in compensation, which is not a big amount considering my injuries. [1] According to his former friend, Jim Gibney, writing in the Irish News, he was a local hero in Short Strand in 1970 because he took part in the gun battle between Ulster loyalists and Irish nationalists at St. Matthews Chapel (see Battle of Saint Matthews). This news broke immediately after the Secretary of State's comments that he believed the IRA had ended all of its illegal activity. [16] McGuinness stated that if de facto exiles such as Gilmour wanted to return home, it was a matter for their own judgment and their ability to make peace with the community. | Belfast Child, 2nd February Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles | Belfast Child, 17th June Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles | Belfast Child. He confessed to the murders of Private Eva Martin and D.I. Martin Galvin, a Bronx-based Irish-American attorney and future dissident republican, later claimed that he had warned the republican movements leadership that he suspected Donaldson of being a British government informer.[3]. Nummer 2 - 2018; Nummer 1 - 2018; 2017. [25], McGartland moved to the northeast coast of England, receiving nearly 100,000 (220,200 today) to buy a house and establish a new life in Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, going by the name Martin Ashe. Required fields are marked *. You will receive an email alert if one or more of the authors you're following has a new release. The spy, Martin McGartland, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was recruited by the Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the mid-1980s. This was my first taste of a normal life and a normal social life. Martin McGartland is a former British informer who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1989 to pass information to RUC Special Branch.. As the years went on, I came to believe that the Provisional IRA was the greatest enemy of democracy and decency in Ireland.[7], In 1979, OCallaghan was the target of an overture by his former IRA colleagues, who wished him to rejoin the organisation. Ingram says that Scapaticcis activities as a high grade intelligence source came to his attention in 1982 after Scappaticci was detained for a drunk driving offence. On the reports main findings, McGartland said: I am now urging the current chief constable of Northumbria police to immediately admit and acknowledge that the IRA had been behind my June 1999 attempted murder. Martin McGartland claims 1999 murder plot was covered up to keep peace process alive. But Marty said he still suffers from flashbacks of the events of 20 years ago. He has written two books; Fifty Dead Men Walking and Dead Man Running. After his cover was blown in 1991 he was kidnapped and only escaped being killed by jumping from a third-floor window. These psychos were obviously baying for blood Mod blood, to be exact. . The murder was also condemned by Sinn Fin leader Gerry Adams. The Court of Appeal has ruled that the home secretary can use secret court hearings to defend a damages claim being brought by a former IRA informer. And he has this message for . Harrison, a soldier from London, was shot by the IRA at the home of his East Belfast fiancee where they were making wedding plans. "At that stage I was in the best position of my life," said Marty. Since then, Gilmour has been in hiding outside Northern Ireland. Shot In The Chest (5) Shot In The Head (5) Shot To Death (5) The Troubles (5) Timeframe 1970s (5) 1980s (4) . In April 2014, Gilmours second book What Price Truth was published; in the book Gilmour goes into greater detail about his life within the IRA and INLA. [11], In November, Gilmours father was abducted by the IRA. [26] He failed in his attempt to receive compensation for his injuries. [3], By 1980, Scappaticci was a lead member in the Internal Security Unit (ISU) for the IRA Northern Command. His cover was blown in 1991 when he tipped off police about a planned attack on a pub in Bangor, County Down. Browse Martin McGartland's best-selling audiobooks and newest titles. Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA, Cahill, Joe 1 di 2 Solo 1 rimasto 1 utente che lo osserva Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA, Cahill, Joe 2 2 di 2 Vedi Altro He sympathised with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. [5] Gilmour participated in, among other activities, a botched car hijacking in which a friend, Colm McNutt, also an INLA member, was shot dead by an undercover soldier. Image below of Book cover and outline of my storyYou can pre-order via this link on Amazon https://t.co/QAjG1d3u6HVisit my blog for more info: https://t.co/cpdGDOXdgy pic.twitter.com/71z7bgjwQ5, Your email address will not be published. The London headquarters of MI5. The information he supplied to the security agencies over several years is widely credited with having saved the lives of at least 50 British police officers and soldiers. His lawyers have asked the British Ministry of Defence to provide him and his family with new identities, relocation and immediate implementation of the complete financial package, including his army pension and other discharge benefits, which he had been reportedly promised by the MoD for his covert tour of duty. [27][28] However, both Finucane and Adams repeatedly denied being IRA members. [5], McGartland described his childhood in West Belfast as one in which he would join with older boys in stone-throwing to goad the British Army. In October 2002, he was arrested in a raid on the Sinn Fin offices as part of a high-profile Police Service of Northern Ireland investigation into an alleged republican spy ring the so-called Stormontgate affair. They were rejected by the High Court in January 2006. His activities also attracted the attention of the IRA and on several occasions he narrowly escaped local disciplinary squads. She was later killed after accidentally falling through a skylight at her school. This effectively made the IRA a police force in some areas. While in jail he told his story to The Sunday Times. The RUC intercepted the two couriers delivering the guns to be used to shoot the soldiers and McGartland was exposed as an infiltrator. [16], Working in the IRA Intelligence unit enabled McGartland to learn about the organisation's command structure pertaining to finance, ordnance, intelligence and the detailed planning of operations. Tipperary Tim astounding 1928 Grand National winner at 100/1 & a proud resident of Glencairn ! The security on the American end of the shipment was handled by Kevin Weeks and Whitey Bulger, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant. Martin McGartland described Wilson as the IRA's head of intelligence and civil administration in the city until his imprisonment in 1991. . Eight years earlier the Belfast-born agent became the only person ever to escape from the IRAs notorious internal mole hunting unit, the so-called Headhunters or Nutting Squad. [23] The penalty for informing on the IRA was death, often preceded by lengthy and sometimes brutal interrogations. On the wider implications of the reports findings, McGartland added: The Northumbria police knew the IRA had been behind my shooting, that they acted in consort with MI5, the Home Office and the then Blair Labour government (and subsequent governments) covered it up to protect not only the IRA as an organisation but the individual IRA members who tried to murder me. He went on to state, the authorities wrote to the BBC back in 1997 admitting that I have been resettled and was being protected because of my service to them. Mon 2 Sep 2019 12.08 EDT Last modified on Wed 18 Dec 2019 10. . I am the victim of an attack and I got around 50,000 in compensation, which is not a big amount considering my injuries. . [44], McGartland responded by lambasting May, pointing out that "this is one of the daftest things I have ever heard; everyone who is interested knows my past "[n]o current security interest is at stake." . Two shotgun cartridges were found at the threshold of the cottage and a post mortem revealed that he had died from a shotgun blast to the chest. Freddie Scappaticci (born c. 1946)[1] is a purported former high-level double agent in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), known by the codename Stakeknife. [27], Three years after moving to England, the IRA sent his mother a Catholic mass card with McGartlands name written on it. But I don't really have a daily life now. [10][11] After rejoining the IRA, OCallaghan claims he heard allegations that the bombing was planned to obtain money from the Soviet military intelligence service (the GRU) and the East German Stasi. During his time as a Special Branch intelligence agent, he became close to senior IRA members, having daily contact with those responsible for organising and perpetrating the shooting attacks and bombings throughout Northern Ireland. [20][20][21][22], In his defence, Samhan claimed that OCallaghan was a willing participant and had requested that he be tied up during a gay bondage session with the two men. It was relatively easy for me to foil these attempts; an occasional Garda car or roadblock at the wrong time; the routine arrest of Ferris or myself; or simple bad planning, such as a car arriving late a whole series of random stratagems.[15], Then, during the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, OCallaghan attempted to start his own hunger strike in support of the Maze prisoners but was told to desist by the IRA for fear it would detract focus from the prisoners. Their methods were not met with approval by all residents. Explore books by Martin McGartland with our selection at Waterstones.com. "[29], In 2003 Scott Monaghan, a suspect in the shooting, sued Northumbria police. Martin McGartland - Fifty Dead Men Walking - The Motion Picture & Television Technical Database. Denis Martin Donaldson (Short Strand, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1950 4 April 2006 in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a member of Sinn Fin who was murdered following his exposure in December 2005 as an informer in the employ of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary). The RUC intercepted the two couriers delivering the guns to be used to shoot the soldiers and McGartland was exposed as an infiltrator.[22]. The actual planning of the shipment was carried out by Patrick Nee, a South Boston gangster and staunch IRA supporter. Martin McGartland's Net Worth: $1-5 Million. He was held in secret in an unknown location for almost a year. . Martin was shot 6 times by the IRA in June 1999. The Provisional IRA reportedly assured Scappaticci of their belief in his denials, and has issued public statements suggesting that the announcement of the former as a tout was a stunt by the British government to undermine Sinn Fin and the Republican movement. Police visited him at home to issue an official notice about fresh information that suggests his life is in danger. The IRA was blamed. [8] The order was issued based upon his failure to appear in court. His paternal grandfather had taken the Anti-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War. Since the beginning of the Troubles, many Irish republicans reported offences to Sinn Fein, a political party associated with the IRA, rather than the RUC. They were some of the nicest blokes I had ever met.". To this day Northumbria Police. After becoming a full-time volunteer, OCallaghan was involved in various IRA operations, including a May 1974 mortar attack on a British army base at Clogher, County Tyrone in which a female Greenfinch Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier, Private Eva Martin, was killed. In May 1978, he married a Scottish woman of Protestant unionist descent. [citation needed], Mays department the Home Office oversees MI5 and she herself had signed the application in a court case brought by McGartland and his partner, both of whom are obliged to live under secret identities that were provided by MI5. The controversy that has arisen centres on the allegation by Ingram that Scappaticcis role as an informer was protected by the FRU through the deaths of those who might have been in a position to expose him as a British agent.[8]. All the comments within the letters had been agreed with Northumbria Police. [39], McGartland criticized the police for inadequate protection, but offered to testify on their behalf, saying: "There are people who have been the victims of terrorist attacks, who've lost loved ones, and some of them haven't been compensated. [18], Although McGartland prevented the IRA from carrying out many spectaculars, including the planned bombing of two lorries transporting British soldiers from Stranraer to Larne that could have resulted in the loss of over a dozen lives,[19] his reported greatest regret was his failure in June 1991 to save the life of 21-year-old Private Tony Harrison. [34], In 2000, Lord Vivian asked in the House of Lords whether the government intended to remove police protection from McGartland and was told by Lord Bassam of Brighton that Individual protection arrangements are a matter for the chief constable of the police force concerned and are not discussed for security reasons.[35], The day after he was shot, the incident, along with the murders of Eamon Collins, Brendan Fegan, and Paul Downey, was cited by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble in an interview with reporters in Belfast, to question whether the IRA ceasefire was being maintained. McGartland pointed out that the case had nothing to do with national security or his undercover work 24 years earlier. You can follow Martin on facebook and Bebo. 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