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One in four in IRA members were informers Smithwick Tribunal told | One in four in IRA members were informers Smithwick Tribunal told |
(about 7 hours later) | |
One in four IRA members, including some in the highest echelons, were informers, a tribunal has been told. | One in four IRA members, including some in the highest echelons, were informers, a tribunal has been told. |
Former garda Owen Corrigan said the RUC and the Army paid "endless sums of money" for poor quality information. | |
He claimed that the British government were putting such pressure on the security services that they were "grateful for any tittle tattle". | He claimed that the British government were putting such pressure on the security services that they were "grateful for any tittle tattle". |
The Smithwick Tribunal is investigating alleged Garda collusion in the IRA murder of two senior RUC officers. | The Smithwick Tribunal is investigating alleged Garda collusion in the IRA murder of two senior RUC officers. |
Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan were shot dead in an ambush in south Armagh in March 1989 as they returned from a meeting in Dundalk Garda station. | Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan were shot dead in an ambush in south Armagh in March 1989 as they returned from a meeting in Dundalk Garda station. |
At the tribunal on Wednesday, Mr Corrigan, a retired detective sergeant from Dundalk, said the informers congregated at night in the town and travelled to Northern Ireland the following day. | At the tribunal on Wednesday, Mr Corrigan, a retired detective sergeant from Dundalk, said the informers congregated at night in the town and travelled to Northern Ireland the following day. |
He said they would tell on each other as "they had no sense of loyalty". | He said they would tell on each other as "they had no sense of loyalty". |
Mr Corrigan said he had information that the "execution" of the two officers had been planned months in advance and involved a considerable number of people, yet he had not received any hint in advance that the murders were to take place. | |
Allegations have been made that Mr Corrigan himself colluded with the IRA in the murders of the officers. | |
But on Tuesday, Mr Corrigan rejected any suggestion he may have been a double agent working for the IRA. | |
During Wednesday's hearing, Mr Corrigan, said informers had leaked his name because he was a "thorn in their side".- | |
He also dismissed claims from security journalist and author Chris Ryder that he had sought payment for potential stories, when he met him in the 1970s. | |
Mr Corrigan said it was "a scurrilous slur" on his good name. He then claimed that Mr Ryder was a member of MI5 - a claim the journalist has denied. | |
The former garda was questioned by the tribunal about an RUC intelligence document which named him in 1985 as someone who was passing information to the provisionals. | |
The source of that document was grain smuggler John McAnulty, who was later tortured and murdered by the IRA. | |
Mr Corrigan pointed out that although the intelligence had been graded as "believable" by the RUC officers who compiled it, their boss, with whom he had a good working relationship had dismissed it as rumour and gossip. | |
The tribunal continues on Friday. | |
Chief Supt Breen and Supt Buchanan were the most senior RUC members to be murdered during the Troubles. | Chief Supt Breen and Supt Buchanan were the most senior RUC members to be murdered during the Troubles. |
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