The Troubles Podcast

Richard O'Rawe joined the Provisional IRA when he was a teenager. He was eventually arrested and spent a number of years taking part in the blanket protests which would eventually lead up to the hunger strikes. Richard was there for it all and in this episode we talk about his role during the hunger strikes as well as his thoughts on Freddie Scappaticci who also went by the name of Stakeknife.

It was a dark evening in February, 1983, when three armed, masked men arrived to the home of Jim Fitzgerald.

His family were locked in a room. One of the men said to him "We have come for Shergar. We want £2 million for him." He was taken at gunpoint to a nearby stable where Shergar the horse was sleeping.  

The horse was loaded into a horsebox, and never seen again. What followed was a mystery which captivated the people of Ireland, and many around the world in the hunt to locate Shergar the world’s most famous racehorse.

The two socialist Republican paramilitary groups were the INLA, Irish National Liberation Army and the IPLO, the Irish People's Liberation Organization.

These were two organisations who sought to fight against the colonial occupation of British Rule and free the working class of capitalistic dominance. 

However, instead of romantic struggle they would instead set their sights on each other. Former friends would become submerged in a murky world of criminality, revenge, sectarianism and cold-blooded murder. 

By the end of this feud, many would be dead and both organisations would be shadows of their former strength. So what led to such a bloody and violent feud? Find out in this weeks episode.

Written by John Livingstone, you can find him over on Instagram at @thetroublesarchive

I'll be putting on a live show in London later this month with Kevin and Jason from Shite Talk: An Irish History Podcast. It'll take place on Wednesday, May 22nd at the London Irish Centre. Ticekts are £12 and the show starts at 19:30. Be great to see some of you there!

This week's episode focuses on the life of Father Patrick Ryan, a Catholic priest who had a unique relationship with the Provisional IRA and Libyan Dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. 
Through Father Ryan, the Provisional IRA received millions in cash, but it was his engineering work with Provisional IRA bombs, which would end up saving the lives of many paramilitaries… while allowing them to improve the efficacy of their bombing campaign.

Here's the link to The Troubles Podcast live show in January 25th, 2024:
www.puntcomedy.com/event-details/the-troubles-live-podcast

In this episode, Kevin Owens talks about life in the Irish army during the Troubles, and explained what life was like... From searching in lakes for Libyan arms dumps to dealing with Gardai who may have been helping out the IRA. He then joined the US Army and ended up serving in Iraq and Afghanistan a number of times.

David Ervine began as a loyalist paramilitary but had a remarkable change of heart while in prison, and upon his release dedicated his efforts to political discourse, and acting as a political voice for the UVF. But it wasn't easy, and there would be many who wanted to take his life. This is the story of the man who championed constructive unionism.

Peter Taylor is a journalist who had an unparalleled level of access across the divided and sectarian communities in Northern Ireland. He has made multiple documentaires and written many books about the Troubles, and was trusted by paramilitaries to tell the world their stories.

In this episode we talk about his life, his memories of Bloody Sunday, and meeting the leaders of the Provisional IRA and the dangers with being a journalist during the Troubles.

We then discuss his new book, Operation Chiffon, The Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland. This book tells the linear story of three decades of violence in Northern Ireland, with a focus on the secret peacemakers, the people who created back channels between the Provisional IRA and the British Government, in an attempt to broker peace.

Chris Thrall deployed as a Royal Marine into Northern Ireland in 1989. He knew very little about the conflict in Northern Ireland before arriving, and it wasn't long before he would see first-hand, what the troubles was like for a member of the British armed forces. Republicans targeted his barracks with mortor bombs, and he was also fired upon while out on patrol one day. This is his experience of the troubles.