For this episode I'm speaking with Martin Dillon, well renowned author and journalist who has spent his career writing about the conflict in the North of Ireland. Martin's latest book, "The Sorrow and The Loss" deals with the women of the troubles and how the conflict affected the lives of the area's females including those who become combatants themselves , those whose husband/partners were in a paramilitary group, members of the security forces and much more.

We speak about Mairead Farrell, one of the IRA's most effective female operators, Dolores Price, Jean McConville's execution, Martin's opinions on the book "Say Nothing" and more.

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TIMESTAMPS 
00:00 Revaltions in Martin’s book about 1987 Enniskillen b*mbing 
18:40 Martin’s new book “The Sorrow & The Loss” 
27:40 MAIREAD FARRELL 
45:58 Fallout from 1987 Gibraltar k*llings: Michael Stone attack & Corp. Howes and Wood
51:40 Dolores Price & Jean McConville 
1:13:10 Tracy Doak (RUC officer)

My guest this week is ex Irish Defence Forces soldier Kevin McDonald. Kevin served in Irelands Special Forces during the conflict that rocked the island.

Kevin tells us about his involvement in the one of the biggest man hunts in the state’s history when INLA kidnapper Dessie O’ Hare was on the run. He shares with us the atmosphere amongst his fellow soldiers as they searched for one of the North’s most infamous paramilitaries.

Kevin talks about IRA training camps in the  south and his efforts to thwart them as well as some of the techniques used by the provos to conceal their camps.

I asked Kevin about levels of support within the Army for the IRA or at least its aims, feelings towards the British Army and much more.

00:00 DESSIE O’ HARE HUNT 
13:45 Joining Army 
26:30 Bloody Sunday
35:54 Support for the IRA within the Army ?
44:40 IRA TRAINING CAMPS
52:35 “Shoot to Kill” policy ?

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00:00 DESSIE O’ HARE HUNT 
13:45 Joining Army 
26:30 Bloody Sunday
35:54 Support for the IRA within the Army ?
44:40 IRA TRAINING CAMPS
52:35 “Shoot to Kill” policy ?

On June 18th 1994 while watching Ireland play in the World Cup, 6 completely innocent men were slaughtered by a loyalist paramilitary gunman who sprayed the bar with an assault rifle in an act of cold blooded sectarianism.  

Trevor Birney's book, "Shooting Crows" tells the storey of this tragic event, the hatred and bitterness that provide the basis for it, the history of loyalist collusion with various security forces branches, the arms shipment that the weapons came in on and the members of the 3 man team who committed the heinous m*rders. 

The book also has a personal element for Trevor as he experienced firsthand some of the breaches of his press freedoms by the PSNI following the airing of a film about the Loughlinisland massacre that Trevor was involved in. 

I'll be doing a Q&A episode soon so please drop any questions in the comment section below or email me at [email protected] 


TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro 
5:45 LOUGHLINISLAND MASSACRE 
18:00 History of Loyalists attacking civilian targets 
24:00 “Collusion” and Brian Nelson 
28:40 Extreme-loyalists 
32:40 Police Ombudsman Reports into the massacre 
43:35 PSNI investigate Trevor 


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Toby Harnden is the author of one of the best-selling and well regarded books on the IRA and the troubles, “Bandit Country”. Toby’s book lifted the lid on the area where is was most dangerous to be a British soldier in during the conflict and the IRA brigade that made it that way. One of my most requested guests and an author that I’ve been dying to speak to, Toby and I spoke about their history, actions & legacy as well as the reasons why this small rural area was the thorn in the army’s side throughout the entire conflict. 

We discussed the IRA’s guerrilla attacks on the British Army in South Armagh, the ’Slab” Murphy family, Gaddafi & Libyan arms shipments, the anti-helicopter sub-battle within the conflict, the deployment of the SAS, the infamous 90’s sniper teams and much more. 

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00:00 Intro 
16:20 Stats & Facts on The South Armagh IRA 
21:45 Thomas “Slab” Murphy & the Murphy family 
43:00 1970’s
1:03:50 Informers 
1:07:50 Sectarian m*rders 
1:10:00 THE SAS (1976)
1:15:14 WARRENPOINT 
1:28:00 Glasdrumann scrapyard counter-ambush 
1:33:30 Libya and Gaddafi 
1:42:05 Richard Johnson & the American connection 
1:50:45 Anti-Helicopter War 
2:00:00 “SNIPER AT WORK” (1990’s)
2:22:25 1990’s actions

Kevin Meagher's book "What A Bloody Awful Country" examines the creation of the state we know as Northern Ireland and how the 100 plus years of existence as gone.

We discuss the reasons for partition in the first place, the sectarian violence during the state's early years, the anti-catholic discrimination built into Northern Ireland's governing system, the various forms of civil rights violations that Catholics had to endure and how violence erupted into what we call "the troubles".

TIMSTAMPS 
0:00 Intro, ‘What A Bloody Awful Country’
5:30 How Did Northern Ireland Come To Exist 
12:30 Violence in Northern Ireland’s History
16:05 Key Factors Leading To The Outbreak of Violence
32:50 Ian Paisley 
38:10 Kevin’s Irish History Counterfactual 
50:50 Border Poll
56:40 Kevin’s Interest 

(Q&A coming soon so please drop any questions in the comments or email me at [email protected] )

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Rob Millington, ex-british army trooper, spent 6 months in Belfast during the final decade of the conflict that gripped the lives of anyone in the 6 counties.

Rob talks to us almost getting caught in an IRA b*mb which was set up to blow up security forces responding to sh*oting, the impact that first seeing dead bodies had on him and aftermath of the 1993 Shankill Road b*mbing.

Rob shares his story about meeting Johnny Adair while on patrol and his attempts to extract information from British soldiers as well as the surprising reaction that Rob and his men would get while meeting high-level republican paramilitaries in the street. 

00:00 Responding to a sh*oting in North Belfast and almost getting caught in b*mb blast 
17:50 Getting to NI 
34:45 1993 Shankill Road B*mbing 
41:30 Meeting JOHNNY ADAIR 
53:05 See Dead Bodies For The First Time 
1:01:00 Shooting During Tour ? 
1:04:25 Leaving NI

CLIP OF ROB : https://youtu.be/WbcVovb4Kgc?si=cQ9EEqdHSesxJf02

(Q&A coming soon so please drop any questions in the comments or email me at [email protected] )

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John Nixon, ex-Offical IRA and INLA member begins this episode at the start of his second prison term in Long Kesh during which he would volunteer for the IRA/INLA Hunger Strike of 1980, led by Brendan “The Dark” Hughes.

John speaks about the horrors and trauma of years in prison, beatings and torture from the guards and his account of the hunger strike that preceded the 1981 Hunger Strike, most known for Bobby Sands death.

I asked about the effect that 53 days without food has a man’s body and mind and how John has tried to moved past everything to life a normal life post prison 

Please forgive us for any parts that might overlap or be repetitive, we recorded this part over several sittings as you can tell. 

00:00 2nd Prison Sentence 
12:45 Staying Sane in Prison 
30:50 Would John Meet With an Ex-Prison Guard 
36:45 Brendan Hughes
43:00 Hunger Strikes 
57:42 1980 HUNGER STRIKE 
1:04:42 Selecting Hunger Strikers 
1:13:35 Stages of John’s Hunger Strike (53 days) 
1:29:52 Hunger Strike ENDS 
1:32:42 Prison after Hunger Strike 
1:41:20 Release & Life after prison 

(Q&A coming soon so please drop any questions in the comments or email me at [email protected] )

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Ralph Brooker served in the British army touring Fermanagh, Derry and the infamous South Armagh, better known as "Bandit Country".

Having spent the majority of his time in rural, border areas Ralph recounts the British army's constant attempts to counteract the IRA's ever evolving methods and tactics. Ralph speaks to us about being on the receiving end of IRA mortar attacks, explosive booby-traps & landmines and the day-today realities of fighting a guerrilla army.

Ralph told me about his views on the IRA and how they changed over the years as well as whether he now considers his old foes to be "freedom fighters"

(Q&A coming soon so please drop any questions in the comments or email me at [email protected] )

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00:00 GETTING MORTARED while in a HELICOPTER
12:20 High Profile IRA men
21:40 How Ralph viewed the IRA- Freedom Fighters ??
44:40 Dealing w/ the Public 
51:20 Clashes w/ UDR & RUC 
1:02:50 Derry 
1:07:50 Names in Stormont that Ralph remembers from COP (Close Observational) Days
1:23:05 Were the Loughall “A-Team” set up ?
1:25:15 IRA Booby-Traps 
1:30:40 SOUTH ARMAGH 
1:45:30 IRA’s 
1:52:00 Final Thoughts

David Burke’s most recent book “Puppet Masters” shines a light on mysterious case of Patrick Crinnion, the garda (Irish police officer) who was passing information to Mi6 while he was in the Gardai’s secretive intel department. 

David, joining me for the third time, tells us about the state of the Republican movement in the years prior to the outbreak of “the troubles”, the resources available to Gardai in terms of intel gathering, Crinnion’s disappearance and the impact that he had on Irish history.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Pre-troubles republican activity 
06:00 1960’s- IRA activity & Garda intel branch 
17:00 Patrick Crinnion 

If you would like to help out the show please like, subscribe and share. I plan on doing bigger things with this show including walk through of areas, documentary-type videos and more.. if you would like to help fund these efforts please consider donating on Buy Me a Coffee. (link below)
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****Q&A COMING SOON SO PLEASE SUBMIT ANY QUESTIONS YOU'D LIKE ANSWERED IN THE COMMENTS****

In a recent episode David Burke re-joined us to talk about the mysterious case of Garda Patrick Crinnion, a spy within the Garda Special Branch (Intel dept) who passed information to the British intel network.

The release of David's book on the subject has prompted the unearthing of new information linking former assistant secretary of the Dept. Of Justice Thomas Coyne to British intel according to a letter written by the afore mentioned Patrick Crinnion.

We discuss the possible implications of such high-level treachery by Irish government officials and the effects that this would have had on Irish politics as well as questions about the information's authenticity/reliability.

If you would like to help out the show please like, subscribe and share. I plan on doing bigger things with this show including walk through of areas, documentary-type videos and more.. if you would like to help fund these efforts please consider donating on Buy Me a Coffee. (link below)
Thanks a million!!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/goodlistenerpodcast

BUY THE BOOK: https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/the-puppet-masters/

00:00 Patrick Crinnion’s letter (found in prison cell) 
33:45 Thomas Coyne and subsequent officials with in the DOJ 
38:35 Authenticity of new info