Stray Bullets

In light of the conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson on Monday 22nd June 2026 I thought I'd take a look at some of the behaviour employed by sex offenders, especially in the context of Protestant Fundamentalist Christianity. I also look at the similar organisational environments where corruption can thrive due to collectivist mindsets. There has been a disgraceful surge in members of the DUP, Unio...

The violence of the past week has brought Northern Ireland to the global media stage (violence and intolerance are two of our best products!). Fuelled by an abhorrent attempted murder which was seized upon by right-wing populist groups, idealogues, demagogues as well as several extremely wealthy sponsors of right-wing political parties. Of course, a number of clandestine foreign actors employed ag...

Continuing my look at asset handling during the Troubles. Some asides included: the light and dark of Special Branch as imagined by popular media (Blue Lights), the aspect of 'reputation', organisational and personal. Finally, some extracts from The Bass Player by Stephen Travers. The Bass Player: Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or qu...

Just a revisit to aspects of asset-handling / management post-Kenova. I conscious of not wishing to tread over old ground, but it may be inevitable given how much the subject matter overlaps. If you'd like to hear more in-depth discussions about asset handling and the intelligence community during the Troubles you can find this in my episodes entitled Stakeknife et al.   Hope you find this, a...

I know. I do tend to stumble through my thoughts, at times spilling out a stream of consciousness. Nevertheless, I just recently realised that it's been just over forty years since I joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I hadn't a clue then, and, most likely, still haven't?! So, I've tried to restrict what I want to say in this episode - the vast bulk of the subject matter I r...

Well, just over forty years ago I joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary. So, I'd like to make my next podcast one in which I over my time in the RUC / PSNI. Hopefully I can draw on events that I've not, so far, included in my previous podcasts as well as trying to keep things light. I've nearly completed revisions for my upcoming podcasts revisiting the Intelligence Services and Asse...

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

A concise look at colonial mechanisms of suppression of indigenous language, customs and superstitions in the context of 18th century Ireland. The inception of this episode is due to my long interest in (old) languages as well as etymology combined with the current debacle in Northern Ireland surrounding the use of the Irish language. Sources : Colby, T.F., Instructions for the interior survey of...

Some succinct recollections about how some females were treated in the RUC, at the time a very patriarchal organisation. Also, to conclude a brief look at Irish right-wing groups and the maintenance of tribal hatreds. I may expand on the latter in a future episode. I have shifted the proposed episode about the Irish Language to an episode of its own as I have slightly more material and in mind of...

Details about some of the subjects I hope to discuss in the next Stray Bullets episode.  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

Some additional aspects following messages and a few conversations with ex- and still serving police colleagues. '[My father] did not show me how to be sociable. I ended up designing a covert life; I have to maintain a profile while being invisible.'  John Cale   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN Int...

A look at how the Northern Irish proletariat continue to allow themselves to be exploited through the maintenance of the legacy of flags and fear.    Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

I suppose the title should really read: 'Political Courage in Northern Ireland flaps in tatters from upon the lamppost that one of our un/elected demagogues attached it to before intimating a threat to anyone who dared remove it.' In the pipeline is a return to discussing asset handling and the 'nuances' of Special Branch as well as looking more in-depth at PIRA volunteer testi...

A condensed episode considering how Catholics may fare in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. For more in-depth thoughts please see links below: They Had Their Loyalties: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI 'A Black Man is better than a Fenian': Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part II Brief Preamble to Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI...

An additional, unplanned, episode originating from some surplus material (AKA thoughts) I had left over from prior episodes. In this episode I talk about the murder of Derek Wood and David Howes as well as the peace walls in Belfast. Medbh McGuckian: New Selected Poems Row erupts over proposal to remove peace wall through Belfast park Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Than...

The concluding episode of Subtle Alchemies . Herein, I discuss the ideal / innocent victim / victim-perpetrator paradigm as well as looking at the cowardly murders of Edgar Graham and Sean Brown . Killed for who they were perceived to be representative of. Also, the murder of RUC officer Jonathan (Jon) Reid . An in-depth series of episodes revisiting subjects such as asset-handling, intelligence s...

A somewhat disjointed episode, unplanned and unscripted. Nevertheless, I felt necessary, as such, to get me back into producing an episode following a sharp dip along my mental road. Anyway, in this episode I talk about some of our politicians jetting off to Israel, the Palestinian flag at Belfast City Hall, the film Black '47, victimhood as agency, cognitive dissonance and extreme sensibilit...

In this episode I look at the construction of victimology in the context of Bloody Sunday as well as that of 'Soldier F'. Also, I consider Organisational Memory, Myth-Making, Blamelessness and Out Group / In Group dynamics.  Cohen, S., States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering , Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001 Eveleigh, R., Peace-Keeping in a Democratic Society. The Lessons...

Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

In this episode I move on to discuss the terms 'victim' and 'perpetrator' and that in post-conflict societies these terms are seldom mutually exclusive of one another.  Are we much too early, in terms of reconciliation, to even begin to think about determining ideal constructs of both 'victim' and 'perpetrator' in Northern Ireland? Never mind 'Hierarchi...

An brief interlude before I get to Part Two of Subtle Alchemies.  Also, please check out the very talented, very brilliant, Emer Maguire who appeared at the Stand Up for Integrated Education Comedy Night at the Ulster Hall. Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

This is the first episode of a series in which I discuss not only the definition of a 'victim' in the context of the Troubles, but also perceptions of victimhood, either justified or unjustified, as well as 'complex victims'.  Works cited: Bar-Tal, Daniel, Lily Chernyak-Hai, Noa Schori, and Ayelet Gundar, A Sense of Self-Perceived Collective Victimhood in Intractable Conflicts,...

Some points in response to a number of queries / comments about police management of sexual offenders. I've spoke about this subject over a number of proceeding episodes, so I'll keep it as succinct as I can and try not to repeat anything (not easy, but …). Also in this episode I'm only touching very, very, briefly upon a very current issue which has yet again brought the PSNI (and...

The concluding (for now) episode in which I discuss the experience of catholic officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI.  Bibliography Breen, R, Beliefs about the treatment of Catholics and Protestants by the Security Forces , in R. Breen, P. Devine and G. Robinson (eds), Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Fourth Report , Appletree Press, Belfast, 1995 Bourdieu, P. Language and Symbolic Power , Po...