Stray Bullets

This is just a very succinct update on upcoming episodes and the future of the podcast.  Many thanks. I owe a massive debt of gratitude to all who have - and continued to - listen to my thoughts, experiences and reflections on my time as an officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary during the Northern Ireland Troubles.    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support...

In this episode I briefly recount some of my experiences as an RUC baton gunner. Obviously this is a very contentious subject and I am very cognizant of this. Seventeen civilians were killed by rubber or plastic bullets during the Troubles, eight of the dead were children, all of the dead were catholic. Many others have been gravely injured by the weapon.  There remain arguments for its use, as we...

In this episode I take a look at Dissident Irish Republican micro-groups. Rather than a case of considering some of their 'military actions', I'll be focusing on republican ideology as well as theology. How do dissidents view themselves as opposed to  Sinn Fein?  What drives their appetite for continuing violence? Is there much difference between dissidents and organised crime group...

In this the second, and concluding part, of my look at the recent BBC TV drama Blue Lights, a drama based on frontline policing in the PSNI, I'll be ruminating on aspects such as threats against police, extra-marital affairs in the RUC / PSNI, the depiction of MI5 and Special Branch in the drama. Obviously this episode is peppered with SPOILERS,     I do think I saw a little subtext in the dr...

Using this opportunity to have a break, of sorts, from specific topics which I'd encountered throughout my RUC / PSNI career. Instead, I'm looking at the recent BBC TV drama Blue Lights, a drama based on frontline policing in the PSNI.  I'll spend this episode and the following looking at some of the characterisations and narrative strands within Blue Lights while reflecting upon si...

In this episode I'll be recounting an incident which occurred in Ballymurphy, West Belfast, 1993. It involved uniformed RUC officers, CID and members of the British Army. The local PIRA ASU were also involved in the planning and preparation of an attack on the security forces.  I'll also be reflecting upon our memorialising and structuring of folk-memory in the context of the Northern Ir...

During the Troubles the squeeze of a trigger or flick of a switch could quickly turn the events of the day from mundane to inhumane. For the majority of the time the victims of shootings or bombings would have been vastly unaware of their fate. But sometimes not. How do you process the possibility of confronting someone who wants to murder you?  The following occurrence in this episode actually un...

In Part II of 'In Bloody Protest For A Glorious Thing' I continue my thoughts on militant Republicanism in the context of 'Heroic-Sacrifice' and a mythic past to which the Patriot Dead added their names for 'Ireland's freedom'. Ultimately what I wanted to do was look at the literary and historical sources extant in Irish Republicanism which informed its evolving...

Part I of II: In this episode I discuss the perception of the Royal Ulster Constabulary held by the Irish Nationalist / Republican community which grew from incidents such as Burntollet Bridge and police baton charges in Derry during the beginning of the Troubles. To do so I look at the actions of the State in respect of that community as well as some of my own encounters and thoughts. To conclude...

Since the establishment of Northern Ireland in 1921,  and the Royal Ulster Constabulary a year later,  it has been acknowledged that the RUC was overwhelmingly comprised of those from the protestant community within Northern Ireland. This factor led, in small part, to a lineage of 'police families'; fathers, mothers, sons and daughters continuing the tradition of their forbearers by enli...

In this episode I recount a gun and rocket attack against members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary which took place in Newry during the very late 1980s. The attack was coordinated by the south Armagh Provisional IRA along with elements of the Newry PIRA. As ever, the identity of any individuals involved has been heavily cloaked through changes and alterations to names, locations, characteristics a...

In this episode I recount a sniper attack upon a joint army / RUC foot patrol in West Belfast. To better relate the incident I have characterised both state and non-state actors. I have also used a narrative framework to provide a clearer image of those involved. This account is lifted from personal involvement as well as information available to me at the time, and later. As ever, names and some...

West Belfast. Early 1990s. Royal Ulster Constabulary officers are lured to address. Waiting for them is an Improvised Explosive Device and a 'murder corridor' engineered and  primed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Presented in a narrative framework this episode explores the impact on ordinary members of the public who find themselves caught up in a plot to murder police and / o...

This episode details a gun attack on members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary at Grosvenor Road RUC station, Belfast in 1992. One officer received a gunshot wound as a result of the attack. The incident also involves a Special Branch asset (tout / agent)  and his handler. To better relate the incident I have created three narrators: Jude - a member of the Provisional IRA Mark - a Special Branch of...

A narrative account of the attempted murder of a RUC officer during August 1987. This incident occurred in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Like so many other incidents at the time it went unreported by local news outlets (during the 1980s and early 1990s the frequency of terrorist attacks usually meant only those causing death, serious injury or extensive damage to property were reported). A...

This episode is based on an actual occurrence I experienced a number of times in the 1980s. It's recounted in narrative form using three narrators, the primary one being an RUC officer. If this format is preferred by you please let me know (Twitter: @redbrickedslums ). If it proves so I'll upload further tales from the Troubles using this form. Thank you. Click here if you’d like to send...

In this episode I'm looking at how Troubles era Belfast has been represented in fiction. I'll be providing some thoughts  and examples of such. Another aspect I touch on is that of 'The Other', which gives me an opportunity to recite some Heaney, too.  In Part Two  - which will form Stray Bullets episode 3 - I'll be talking about my observations and thoughts on the tribali...

In this first episode - or introduction - I talk a bit about my background, how I came to write a novel set during the Troubles, and why I decided to blend genres. I'll also give an explanation as to why I chose Mithraism over Christianity as the novel's primary religion.      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières...