Countering terrorism in Northern Ireland
The Role of Intelligence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8098826 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Kirk-Smith, James Dingley (Hawler Medical University) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 551-573 |
| Publication date | 2009-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Small Wars and Insurgencies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-2318 • E-ISSN: 1743-9558 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09592310903027132 |
| OpenAlex | W1997067983 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 5 |
This article aims to review some of the key lessons learnt by the Royal Ulster Constabulary's (RUC) Special Branch in the 37 years of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Above all counter-terrorism is an intelligence led operation and Special Branch are the key agency for this in all UK police forces, who have now benefited enormously from the expertise that the RUC's Special Branch built up over the years and have passed on to their colleagues throughout the UK. Intelligence is more often than not a human role and relies on human agencies, which was the case in Northern Ireland. The bulk of intelligence gathering was carried out at quite low levels although the sifting and analysing of it became a more specialist skill. Electronic intelligence and computerised systems were often quite low down in the order of priorities and uses, which tends to confound popular impressions. Agents, informers and good old fashioned ‘coppers’ who knew their patch were much more important both in terms of gathering information and in terms of undermining the terrorists morale from within and it was these factors that fundamentally defeated the IRA in Northern Ireland. Keywords: Northern IrelandterrorismintelligenceIRA Notes 1. CitationRyder, The Fateful Split, chapter 9. 2. CitationHennessey, A History of Northern Ireland. 3. CitationHennessey, The Origins of the Troubles. 4. See CitationMcIntyre, British Decolonisation, 1946–97, and CitationBrown and Lewis, Oxford History on retreat from empire/colonial wars. 5. CitationEnglish, Armed Struggle, 42–78. 6. Hennessey, A History of Northern Ireland, or CitationSmith, Fighting for Ireland. 7. Ryder, The Fateful Split, or English, Armed Struggle. 8. CitationPotter, A Testimony to Courage. 9. CitationIrwin and Mahoney, ‘The Military Response’. 10. CitationEllison and Smyth, The Crowned Harp, 84. 11. CitationDingley, ‘The Terrorist – Developing a Profile’. 12. CitationDingley and Mollica Mollica, ‘The Human Body as a Terrorist Weapon’; CitationDingley and Kirk-Smith, ‘Symbolism and Sacrifice in Terrorism’. 13. CitationMorgan, ‘Northern Ireland Terrorism: the Legal Response’. 14. The Green Book is the internal disciplinary manual of the PIRA, a copy of which is in the authors' private possession. 15. PIRA nutting squad and interrogations: see CitationHarnden, Bandit Country, chapter 8; CitationCollins, Killing Rage, chapter 18. 16. The National Intelligence Model. http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/operational-policing/nim-introduction (accessed 9 July 2009). 17. CitationAllison, ‘Terrorist Weapons and Technology’; CitationSouthern, ‘The Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Terrorist Threat’; Irwin and Mahoney, ‘The Military Response’. 18. CitationDingley, ‘Northern Ireland and the “Troubles”’; CitationNeumann, ‘The Government's Response’. 19. English, Armed Struggle, chapter 8. 20. While at a NATO conference in Ankara several senior members of the Pakistan police informed one of the authors that they regularly began their intelligence searches on the North West Frontier via the ledgers the British left behind on the local tribes, their activities, weaknesses, reliability, etc., some dating back to the 1860s. 21. Collins, Killing Rage, chapter 18. 22. English, Armed Struggle, chapter 7. 23. English, Armed Struggle, chapter 6. 24. English, Armed Struggle, chapters 7 & 8. 25. English, Armed Struggle, chapter 6. 26. http://news.scotsman.com/northernireland/Collusion-between-the-police-and.3340248.jp 27. Dingley, ‘Northern Ireland and the “Troubles”’; Neumann, ‘The Government's Response’. 28. Neumann, ‘The Government's Response’. 29. CitationDingley, ‘The Road to Peace?’ 30. We refer specifically to the usage of the terms ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ and the legal categories of armed conflict used in CitationGreen, The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict
Agency (philosophy · Colonialism · Criminology · Empire · Ethnology · Northern ireland · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Terrorism · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Military History and Strategy
Misapplying lessons learned? Analysing the utility of British counterinsurgency strategy in Northern Ireland, 1971-76
Does Counter-Terrorism Work?
The ‘Unforgivable’
Intelligence in defence organizations
Countering terrorism through the use of informants
Informers, agents and the liberal ideology of collusion in Northern Ireland
Evaluating militant decision-making with information science
An Introduction
The “informer” and the political and organisational culture of the Irish republican movement
Inter- and intra-agency intelligence liaison during 'the troubles
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,63 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2024 (15) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |