The ‘Unforgivable’?: Irish Republican Army (IRA) informers and dealing with Northern Ireland conflict legacy, 1969-2021

Williams, Eleanor Leah and Leahy, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2046-3339 2023. The ‘Unforgivable’?: Irish Republican Army (IRA) informers and dealing with Northern Ireland conflict legacy, 1969-2021. Intelligence and National Security 38 (3) , pp. 470-490. 10.1080/02684527.2022.2104000

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Abstract

The case of Northern Ireland and ex-IRA informers demonstrates the difficulty of dealing with the informer legacy post-conflict. We explain why Sinn Féin and the UK state have dealt with some conflict legacy cases involving informers but not with others. Contemporary political and reputational reasons are an important explanation, but there are also legal considerations and communal pressures at play. Divisions amongst alleged and self-confessed informers further facilitate this unstructured approach to legacy. These difficulties with informers’ legacy are not unique to Northern Ireland. Similar challenges in reconciling former state agents with paramilitaries are evident across other conflicts.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	0268-4527
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 August 2022
Date of Acceptance:	4 August 2022
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2023 16:48
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/151709

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