British bugging out of Northern Ireland

By Jack Holland

BELFAST — The extraction of surveillance devices from leading paramilitary targets has begun in Northern Ireland, according to usually reliable sources. The sources say that the dangerous and delicate process of removing the array of bugging equipment will take about five years.

Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein leaders were the principle targets. The fact that undercover operatives are now starting to “decommission” their surveillance operations is a potent sign that the British government has accepted that the IRA has ended its campaign for good.

The news that the security forces are moving to curtail their covert operations against paramilitaries comes at a time when the Ulster Unionist Party is under growing pressure from party members who are unhappy about the prospect of Sinn Fein entering the executive of the new Northern Ireland Assembly before the IRA has begun to decommission its weapons.

“Nobody has admitted that to me, but I am not surprised,” said Ulster Unionist M.P. Ken Maginnis on the debugging allegations. Maginnis is the party’s security spokesman.

He said he expects a “continuing decrease of military presence” and “big changes” in the number of British soldiers in the province by Christmas. He said that the security forces, especially in the Irish Republic, are now concentrating their resources on groups such as the so-called “dissident” IRA, which has been linked to the 32-County Sovereignty Movement. Calling itself the Real IRA, it has carried out a series of bombings and attempted bombings this year. At the beginning of July, 10 people were arrested in London and Dundalk by British and Irish police, and several small explosive devices were retrieved. Most of the 10 have been linked to the dissident IRA.

The police are known to be concerned about the “real” IRA, which has attracted the support of former leading members of the Provisional IRA. At the moment, however, the authorities seem to be enjoying a steady flow if information about its members’ activities.

The fact that the extraction operation is expected to take up to five years is an indication of its extent. From the early 1990s, a special counter-surveillance unit within the Royal Ulster Constabulary’s Special Branch targeted many high-ranking members of the IRA and the main loyalist groups, the Ulster Defense Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force. It is known that this unit succeeded in penetrating the upper echelons of these organizations, and the flow of information the police received enabled them to frustrate many major terrorist attacks. Planting of devices was carried out by the RUC Special Branch, along with M15 and Special Air Services operatives.

Among the most important targets was Gerry Kelly, former member of the IRA’s leadership body, the Army Council, and currently an assembly member for North Belfast. Surveillance teams watched for an opportunity to plant a device in his house for many months before succeeding. On one occasion, when Kelly had gone away for a weekend, the team on duty did not realize it and were upbraided by their superiors for missing a golden opportunity. A few months ago, Kelly uncovered a bugging device in his home and there has been much speculation as to how long it was there.