IRA arms dumps, ‘Al Capone route' on border gangs & Gerry Adams' gun shock – secret files show how peace in NI was won

The Irish Sun

8 hours ago

SECRET files have been declassified that shine a light on talks between the Irish and British governments as they worked together to bolster the peace process in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement.
Newly released state papers from Downing Street have been made available through the National Archives in London that show crunch meetings with key figures such as former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair and others.
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Declassified secret files revealed the effort between Ireland and Britain to obtain peace
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Reid had proposed that the IRA should establish a major dump for arms at the army base
Credit: PA:Press Association
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Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair worked together to put the violence of the Troubles in the past
Credit: PA:Press Association
Hidden in the thousands of previously closed confidential documents, some dating back a quarter of century, are remarkable details of efforts to secure a lasting political future between Ireland and Britain and leave the bloody violence of the Troubles in the past.
Here, David O'Dornan reveals some of the extraordinary discussions that took place.
IRA ARMS DUMP 'POLICED BY NORWEGIANS'
PEACE process facilitator Father Alec Reid proposed that the IRA set-up a superdump for their arms in Dublin that could be overseen by Norwegians in a bid to make a breakthrough on decommissioning.
The Catholic priest's idea is revealed in a top secret memo, dated November 20, 2000, penned by the Northern Ireland Office's Bill Jeffrey after a meeting with Ulster Unionist Harvey Bicker, a retired colonel in the British Army.
He wrote: 'We were obviously at a delicate stage in the process, and would need somehow to persuade the IRA to re-engage with [General John] de Chastelain and make some further confidence building move on weapons.
'He was - as we knew - close to Mary McAleese and had helped with her Presidential campaign. Out of that had come a suggestion that he talk to Father Reid.
'He and Reid had developed a number of concepts, including language like 'putting beyond use' which had ended up in the public domain.
'Bicker also mentioned that, at some point in the dialogue - he did not make it clear precisely when - he and (I think) Reid had proposed that the IRA should establish a major dump for arms at the site of the Army Air Corps base north of Dublin.
'This would be secured by international troops (he had suggested Norwegians) and would not be accessible by representatives of either the British or Irish Governments.
'The only people to have access would be the four representatives of the moral interface and the IRA themselves.
'The major dump north of Dublin policed by the Norwegians was the only point in our discussion when I thought we were losing touch with reality, but that may simply reflect lack of imagination on my part.'
'AL CAPONE ROUTE' ON REPUBLICANS
THE problem of how to crack down on republican gangs along the border was becoming a hot topic with concerns that scrapping British Army bases and the removal of the presence of soldiers in the north would impact the ability to combat crime.
A key part of talks between the two governments and Sinn Fein was that Army checkpoints, watchtowers and barracks in the heavily militarised South Armagh area would be scaled back before going away for good - but only if the Provisional IRA made good on decommissioning.
John Sawers - who would later be the Chief of MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, was at the time a foreign affairs adviser to Tony Blair and wrote to him about his concerns on November 24, 2000.
He told him: 'The pressure in these negotiations will be to stretch ourselves on demilitarisation - scaling back on our coverage of South Armagh in return for some real action on putting arms beyond use.
'At the same time, we have to retain and improve our ability to crack down on racketeering and smuggling… the Irish are better placed to pursue the Al Capone route against both PIRA and RIRA on their side of the border (though whether they would ever put Slab Murphy in the dock on smuggling charges is doubtful).'
ADAMS CLAIMED SHOCK AT MORE IRA GUNS
A MEETING with Irish government civil servants Dermot Gallagher and Martin Mansergh regarding what Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams had to say about IRA activity was recorded in a note dated November 17, 2000 by British mandarin William Fittall.
He said: 'We asked Gallagher what Adams had said about continued PIRA murders and procurement. Gallagher said that Adams 'took a very careful note of what I said about killing people'.
'On procurement Adams had said that 'he would be very, very surprised if anything was happening in that area'.
'Mansergh added that even concreting dumps would be 'vast and difficult' for the movement.'
BERTIE'S BELIEF THE IRA WOULDN'T DISBAND
THE files show that the close relationship between Good Friday Agreement brokers Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair continued for many years as they fought for the peace process together with constant phone calls and meetings.
On April 16, 2003, the Taoiseach told him he believed 'the IRA would never say that they were disbanded or going away totally'.
A day later in a separate discussion with Blair, 'Ahern commented that the IRA had shown some movement… but on targeting/beatings etc they had been unable to move 'because they are up to their necks in it'.'
Then in a note of a phone call a fortnight later on May 1, it stated: 'The Prime Minister did not think that [Peter] Robinson and the DUP would ever in reality ever be prepared to share power with Sinn Fein.
'Ahern agreed and commented that the DUP did not even talk to the Irish government.'
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Gerry Adams was asked about continued PIRA murders and procurement
Credit: Reuters
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Alec Reid played a key role in brokering peace in Northern Ireland
Credit: AFP