View source for Intelligence and Security Group (NI)

[[Intelligence and Security Group (NI)]] was a cover name for at least two closely related British Army intelligence units in Northern Ireland.

==Real Units==
As with other military cover names used in Northern Ireland, such as NITAT discussed below, there were real [[Intelligence and Security Group]]s in England and Germany.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.39.</ref> These were [[Intelligence Corps]] units according to [[Mark Urban]], who states that the German unit took part in [[Operation WARD]].<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.39.</ref> 

==Special Reconnaissance Unit==
A briefing prepared for [[Harold Wilson]] in 1974 states the [[Special Reconnaissance Unit]] operated in Northern Ireland under the cover name [[Northern Ireland Training and Advisory Teams (Northern Ireland)]] (NITAT (NI).<ref>[http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Image:PREM16slash154.pdf Defensive Brief D Meeting between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach 5 April 1974 Army Plain Clothes Patrols in Northern Ireland], National Archives PREM 16/154.</ref> According to [[Mark Urban]], [[HQNI]] became concerned that the NITAT name was becoming too well-known, and replaced it in 1978/9 with the name [[Intelligence and Security Group (NI)]]. This in turn was replaced with the name [[14 Intelligence and Security Company]] in the early 1980s.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.39.</ref>

=="The Group"==
According to Urban, [[Intelligence and Security Group (NI)]] was later adopted as a cover name for a structure that was initiated under [[Commander Land Forces (Northern Ireland)]], Maj. Gen. [[James Glover]], and which became operational under his successor Maj. Gen. [[Charles Huxtable]] in late 1980/early 1981.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.139.</ref>

Urban suggests this reflected a shift in emphasis from ambushing [[IRA]] members to surveillance with a view to prosecution.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.138.</ref> It may also reflect the fact that the [[RUC]]'s role was being expanded at the expense of the Army.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, pp.146-147.</ref> The re-organisation was intended to ease the pressure on the [[SAS]] which had been deploying a full squadron to Northern Ireland, with one troop for each of three brigade areas and a fourth in reserve, and to strengthen its relationship with the [[14 Intelligence Company]]).<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.138.</ref>

The new Intelligence and Security Group (NI) was also referred to as 'Int and Sy Group' or simply 'The Group'. It combined 14 Intelligence and the SAS contingent under a single commander. The SAS element was reduced to a single reinforced troop of some 20 men, available for deployment anywhere in Northern Ireland. The activities of the new group were co-ordinated with the [[RUC]] through the latter's [[Tasking and Co-ordination Group]]s.<ref>Mark Urban, Big Boys, Rules, Faber and Faber, 1992, p.139.</ref>

According to [[Tony Geraghty]], the [[FRU]] also became a part of Intelligence and Security Group.<ref>Tony Geraghty, The Irish War, Harper Collins, 1998, p.155.</ref>

==Notes== 
<references/>

[[Category:British Army]][[Category:Northern Ireland]][[Category:British Military Intelligence]][[Category:State Violence and Collusion Project]]