Stray Bullets

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Just another impromptu episode in respect of the PSNI Chief Constable's recent despondency at our politician's seeming indifference to the policing budget, and the fact that 'fit for duty' police numbers are dangerously low  and overstretched. 

I also briefly talk about my feelings surrounding the continuing intransigence of the Intelligence Services concerning the murder of Sean Brown.

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Moving forward I consider some statements made in the past by PIRA volunteers in respect of 'engineering' the conflict, or, conversely, having the armed struggle forced upon them by the actions of the British. 

As ever I must admit to straying off on one - or two - tangents, such as a 'murder safari', a term I've coined for, well, it'll become evident...

Sources referred to in this episode:

Alonso, Rogelio, The IRA and Armed Struggle, London and New York: Routledge, 2007

Hennessey, Thomas, Northern Ireland: the Origins of the Troubles, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 2005

MacStiofáin, Seán, Memoirs of a Revolutionary, Edinburgh: Gordon Cremonesi, 1975

O'Doherty, Malachi, The Trouble with Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA, Belfast: Blackstaff, 1998

White, Robert W., Provisional Irish Republicans: an Oral and Interpretive History, Westpoint, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993      

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Another impromptu episode, of sorts, before I continue my look at PIRA's 'no alternative' to violence and state-terrorism. 

Here, I'm momentarily reflecting upon Special Branch handlers, Northern Irish policing and Catholic recruitment as well as the 'post-policing gaze' that preoccupies an awful lot of police officers: past, present and probably future.         

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The first episode looking at a new series of topics. I've an awful lot to unpack in succeeding episodes, so this is more of an episode in which I will begin to establish some factors preceding the Troubles as well as considering a small part of PIRA's Green Book and which leads me on to present day Northern Ireland's plague of violent organised crime groups. 

Sources

Patterson, Henry, The Politics of Illusion: a Political History of the IRA, London, Serif, 1997

Jackson, Alvin, Ireland 1798 - 1998: Politics and War, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999

Purdie, Bob, Was the Civil Rights Movement a Republican / Communist Conspiracy, Irish Political Studies 3

English, Richard, Armed Struggle: the History of the IRA, London, Macmillan, 2003

Alonso, Rogelio, The IRA and Armed Struggle, London and New York, Routledge, 2007         

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A brief addition as I wanted to close-up any loose ends before moving on to a new episode in which will be looking at PIRA and their assertion that there was no alternative to violence.

It just remains for me to post two links in respect of the killing of Pearce Jordan in 1992 by the SSU.

PEARSE JORDAN INQUEST FINDINGS DELIVERED

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Pausing my consideration of Stakeknife and asset handling for now. I sure I can pick up this thread again once the Op Kenova report is finally published, but for now I want to concentrate on future episodes examining other topics in the context of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Troubles.

I close this episode with a few anecdotal reflections on the PIRA ceasefires as well as a 'class' system of sorts within the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

     

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Another very short interlude just in respect of those who've been discovering my first couple of episodes and if my novel is still available.

The link is here. It's self-published as I wrote it as personal therapy, more than anything else. I've kept the price for the paperback as low as I can (it really just covers Amazon's costs etc.). I've embedded portions of actual events I was aware of while in the RUC, together with blending the testimonies of real world individuals, as well as a bit of subtext.

Sample pages are free to read on Amazon, so have a cursory read first if interested.

Many thanks!

The Bitter End of Dreams (paperback)    

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Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.

Support the show

Médecins Sans Frontières

Unicef

PEN International