Stray Bullets

Pausing my consideration of Stakeknife and asset handling for now. I sure I can pick up this thread again once the Op Kenova report is finally published, but for now I want to concentrate on future episodes examining other topics in the context of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Troubles. I close this episode with a few anecdotal reflections on the PIRA ceasefires as well as a 'class&ap...

Another very short interlude just in respect of those who've been discovering my first couple of episodes and if my novel is still available. The link is here . It's self-published as I wrote it as personal therapy, more than anything else. I've kept the price for the paperback as low as I can (it really just covers Amazon's costs etc.). I've embedded portions of actual ev...

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 lot packed into this episode, partly by design, partly by divergence. Continuing on the theme of assets, handlers, TCG and RUC Special Branch . How were things managed, or mismanaged? Troubles' history remains fertile ground into which black propaganda may be seeded by both state and non-state actors. Each 'side' alluding that they fought a ' just war ', but all sides dr...

2025 and many journalists, as well as 'security commentors', circle John Boucher's suite and Sir Iain Livingstone's secretary as they vie for an 'exclusive' and / or interview upon the publication of the full Op Kenova report. Already there's been a gradual flurry of activity in the form of publications touting to have the real story of 'Stakeknife' and...

This episode concludes (for the time being anyway!) my look at the RUC and accusations of collusion. However, as I write this more seeds of research into this topic are dropping into my inbox! Nevertheless, this episode shifts from the early 1920s through to the recent Troubles, and via Ireland and Palestine. I sincerely hope you find something of interest and I remain grateful for any reviews / t...

This episode will, more or less, set up the episode(s) to follow. I'll discuss aspects of how Britain once looked to deal with internal threats and / or insurgency. Beginning with the 19th centaury I'll look at some examples of how Britain sought to deal with riots or unrest within its own borders as well as that of Ireland. I also draw on some of my own experiences to extrapolate some h...

Another unplanned episode. This time I consider Michelle O'Neill's laying of a wreath at the cenotaph in Belfast on Remembrance Sunday and the reaction to same. I guess the theme of this episode is the complex reality of Ireland and this got me thinking about Francis Ledwidge also, so I've included a very brief musing on the complex (contradictory(?)) reality personified by Ledwidge...

This episode continues my look at the Royal Ulster Constabulary and allegations of collusion. To be honest, I naively thought that I would, most likely, have provided an overarching look at the subject in a couple of episodes. I was wrong. Given the amount of material I've obtained, together with ex-RUC and military colleagues I've gathered much more. In this episode I conclude my look a...

This is just an extremely brief update to let you know what to expect on the next episode. Also, Buzzsprout have put a link on the Stray Bullets webpage which lets you send me feedback about the podcast (they call it 'fan mail', but that's quite subjective I imagine!).   Many thanks,   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you. Support the show Médecins Sa...

This episode continues my look at allegations of collusion against the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Obviously, there's nothing revelatory within (other than some aspects of agent handling and possible pitfalls of such). There's nothing to breach the Official Secrets Act either. In saying all that I sincerely hope that the biographical book extracts, I'll quote from, by a retired membe...

This is the concluding episode in which I look at issues related by a retired RUC Special Branch officer as quoted from the work cited below, as well as my thoughts on such.   Work cited in this episode: Barker, Alan, 'Shadows: Inside Northern Ireland's Special Branch' , Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd, 2004      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or questio...

This is an interim, or rather impromptu, episode of sorts. In it I consider my working relationship with an Intelligence Cell within the British Army during the very early years of my career, and how it became affected following the brutal murder of Loughlin Maginn in 1989. As such I hope to complete a more comprehensive and concluding episode looking at allegations of collusion and the RUC. I hop...

Another unplanned episode, but one generated from a number of questions I've received from listeners asking if I'd planned to discuss Blue Lights Season 2 in much the same way as I did for Season 1. Also, the anecdotes about illicit love trysts in the PSNI was of great interest (which also featured as part of the Blue Lights episodes). To be honest they still occur and, as such, follow s...

Given the contentious nature of the subject topic discussed in this episode I've added some caveats which I've outlined at the beginning. I'd just have to reiterate that the episode just reflects my own personal observations plus awareness of incidents, and remain my own interpretations of such. Having said that, I feel this subject will inevitably run into another episode. It'...

Another 'impromptu' episode! This time I'll be (hurriedly, sorry time waits ... ) discussing the political rants following Armagh GAA winning the All-Ireland title on Sunday 28th July 2024. Moreso, because a PSNI Community Policing Officer joined in with his community celebrating in Camlough (I used to just be flown over it and dropped off nearby for foot patrols) by proudly flying...

In this episode I attempt to conclude my thoughts on the aspects of Forgiveness and Recrimination in Northern Ireland's post-Troubles' society. In saying that, I'll add the caveat that I'll most likely be revisiting nuances of such topics threaded through future episodes. For the time being I'm looking at how we memorialise the past in terms of 'isolating' sacred...

Will there be a time when we, in Northern Ireland, see our seemingly parallel divergent histories cross? Our opposing narratives blend with commonality. As a society still raw from sectarian and political conflict many are trying to step away from hate, but there are still those who fear any admission of culpability will render them vulnerable. In this episode I'll be talking about such and m...

Just a bolt-on tale I omitted to include in the previous episode: 'Rattlebag'. 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 episode is, in itself, an interlude before I continue my theme of reconciliation and recrimination. I just needed a breather of sorts and to realign my thoughts, which had been threatening to scatter. Just some (brief) ruminations herein on a few innocuous memories from my time in both the Royal Ulster Constabulary and PSNI.  Many thanks to those who've sent me some questions, clarificat...

In this episode I'll be continuing to look at the aspect of Forgiveness and Recrimination which I began in the episode, 'I Bear No Grudge'. Given the amount of material I've gathered to date, I sense that the topic will continue on for several more episodes. In this episode I employ two poems by John Hewitt: 'The Iron Circle' and 'The Bloody Brae' in the hop...

I'd just recorded Part II of my consideration of Forgiveness and Recrimination in a post-conflict Northern Ireland when my SSD gave up the ghost. On retrospect it may have been a blessing in disguise as I wasn't completely happy with the experimental format of the episode, besides I'd only noticed several dropouts in the recording just as I was completing it which would've mean...

This episode is Part One of Two in which I look at two atrocities, one in 1972 and one in 1987, through the words of two fathers who both experienced the murder of one of their children. Ultimately, this episode will, I hope, help me explore the aspect of 'forgiveness' in the context of conflict, specifically the Troubles.  In Part Two (the concluding episode) I would hope to be freer to...

In this episode I am focusing on two Troubles' murders, those of RUC Sgt Hugh Brendan McCormac and Pat Finucane. Both men were slaughtered in front of their wives and young children. While this episode concludes the theme of 'Doorstep Murders' I felt that these two cases - from the thousands murdered during the Troubles - demonstrated how the killers thought nothing of murdering the...

In this episode I return to narrative form through which to recount an actual doorstep shooting that occurred in Belfast 1979. As always, names have been changed as well as the Provisional IRA gunman's ground support being slightly altered. After the main body of the occurrence there follows an account of the victim's recollections and thoughts (this may be similar to the Victim Impact S...