I’m delighted to share the cover for my new book, Enemies Within, available to pre-order on Amazon and from all good bookshops now!
Category: Writing
Guilty by Association?
Recently I was contacted by the film-maker Sean Murray who was anxious to know if I had any dealings with loyalist Clifford Peeples. Like many journalists and academics I do know Mr Peeples. My contacts range far and wide across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland. It has been essential to my research over the past 25 years. This article explains the rationale for maintaining a wide and diverse array of contacts in a divided society like Northern Ireland.
Stones Left Unturned: Op Kenova, Collusion and the IRA Assassination of John Bingham
The publication of the Operation Kenova report into a British spy network inside the IRA has left one trail to run cold: Collusion in the murder of Loyalists It all started with a meeting I held with a source in a flat in Portadown. It was the summer of 2015 and I was in the…
Imposter Syndrome
Who is “Winkie Irvine”, really? A source I spoke to in the wake of my revelation that Winkie Irvine had been expelled from the UVF confirmed to me just how disliked the former UVF commander actually was inside his own paramilitary group. Then he said something very interesting. “Many people,” he told me, “believed there…
No More Nods for the Wink
My sources close to the UVF have confirmed to me that a secret meeting of the 1st Belfast Battalion of the organisation was held last night in the Shankill. I understand that representatives from all UVF 1st Battalion companies were in attendance, as were members of the group’s ruling Brigade Staff. Allegations were made in…
I’m Now on Substack!
“The saying goes that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but in this case… The basic problem is that the author is far too close to his subject to exhibit a meaningful degree of objectivity.” That’s what An Phoblacht, the official media outlet of the Provisional IRA, wrote about me in a review…
Breaking News: East Belfast UVF to be Stood Down
A loyalist source has contacted me to tell me that the East Belfast UVF have been stood down, effective from midnight tonight. The statement is believed to have been issued by the UVF Brigade Staff, the group’s central command. It was read out across different areas as members of the paramilitary group met to commemorate…
The Tragic Death of Thatcher’s Spy
One of the best placed British agents inside the Provisional Republican Movement is dead. Willie Carlin died of complications arising from a Covid-19 infection on Monday 6th February. He is survived by his wife and child from a second marriage. I first met Willie in 2018 when I interviewed him for my critically acclaimed book,…
The most serious crisis in Northern Ireland’s history?
“To some commentators this may feel like run-of-the mill DUP rhetoric. However, a source close to DUP thinking informed me at the beginning of this week that there is a developing view within the party’s hierarchy that the Protocol must be resisted more decisively.”
Why I Wrote Agents of Influence
“Agents of Influence is a genuine attempt to put historical evidence into the public arena so as to inform the debate over the steps an ancient liberal democracy has taken in order to meet the threat posed by a toxic strain of violent extremism.”
Why I Write About… Northern Ireland
“I had always been interested in the security dimension of the Troubles, which played like a noisy soundtrack to my research and writing.”