State Violence and Collusion Project

Welcome to the State Violence and Collusion Project portal on Powerbase

Welcome to Powerbase—your guide to networks of power, lobbying and deceptive PR. Members of the top secret British Army Force Research Unit in the 1980s. Ian Hurst is pictured second from left. Philip Campbell Smith is second from the right. Smith was convicted of blagging information as a private detective in 2012, and accused by the BBC's Panorama of bugging Hurst's computer. The State Violence and Collusion Project has been set up by Spinwatch in collaboration with the Pat Finucane Centre. It acts as a platform for research on state violence and collusion in the Northern Ireland conflict. By building up a comprehensive picture of the role of state structures in the conflict, we aim to assist families and researchers in working on particular cases, and in making the case for a wider public process of truth recovery. The editor of the State Violence and Collusion Project is Tom Griffin. See the A-Z list of all articles in the State Violence and Collusion Project Read: COUNTER-GANGS: A history of undercover military units in Northern Ireland 1971-1976, by Margaret Urwin. This pamphlet and associated online material from our project have been cited in Anne Cadwallader's Lethal Allies: British Collusion In Ireland. Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing and is overseen by a managing editor, a Sysop and several associate portal editors.

The Security System Northern Ireland Office - Responsible for UK government interests, including security. ‎Province Executive Committee - High-level security committee. Tasking and Co-ordinating Groups: TCG Belfast | TCG North | TCG South - co-ordinated security force covert operations at regional level. Intelligence MI5 in Northern Ireland - MI5 replaced MI6 as the dominant intelligence service in Northern Ireland in the Mid-1970s. Director and Co-ordinator of Intelligence (Northern Ireland) (DCI) - the senior officer of the Security Service (MI5) in Northern Ireland. Officers who may have held this position include Denis Payne, John Cradock, John Parker, David Ranson, Hal Doyne-Ditmass, John Deverell and Witness S436 (Rosemary Nelson Inquiry). DCI Rep (Knock) - MI5 officer based at RUC HQ.| DCI Rep (HQNI) MI5 officer based at Army HQ in Lisburn. Post may have been held by Ian Cameron in the mid-1970s. MI5 T Branch - created in 1990 with responsibility for Irish counter-terrorism. headed in the 1990s by Stephen Lander and Eliza Manningham-Buller. Officers in that period included David Shayler, Annie Machon and Jestyn Thirkell-White MI6 in Ireland - MI6 played a key role in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s before being replaced by MI5. It nevertheless played a key role in contacts with the IRA. Officers active in Northern Ireland included Frank Steele,Craig Smellie, Michael Oatley and Alistair Crooke. Irish Joint Section - Joint MI5/MI6 unit which operated in Northern Ireland until 1984, when MI5 took over full responsibility. The British Army General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland (GOC NI) - Senior British military officer in Northern Ireland until 2009. Incumbents during the early troubles included Ian Freeland, Harry Tuzo and Frank King. Commander Land Forces (Northern Ireland) (CLFNI). Senior British Army commander below the GOC. Notable CLF's included Anthony Farrar-Hockley, Robert Ford and James Glover. Brigadier-General Staff (Intelligence) (DIS) - Senior British Army intelligence officer working on Northern Ireland. 39th Infantry Brigade - British Army Brigade covering Belfast area during the Troubles. Commanded by controversial counterinsurgency theorist Frank Kitson during the early 1970s. 8th Infantry Brigade - Brigade covering Derry during the Troubles. The Bloody Sunday massacre took place during the command of Patrick MacLellan in 1972. 3rd Infantry Brigade - Covered Portadown and the border area. Ulster Defence Regiment - In existence from 1969 to 1992. Heavily infiltrated by loyalist paramilitaries. Covert Units Military Reaction Force | Special Reconnaissance Unit | Force Research Unit Policing Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) - Police force in Northern Ireland until 2001. RUC Special Branch (SB or 'E Department') - responsible for intelligence. Police Service of Northern Ireland - Successor to the RUC Propaganda Information Research Department | Northern Ireland Information Service | information Liaison Department | Information Policy Unit Collusion Ulster Volunteer Force | Robin Jackson | Mark Haddock Ulster Defence Association | James Miller | Brian Nelson Provisional IRA | Sean O'Callaghan | Freddie Scappaticci

Priority pages Priority pages for the Collusion and State Violence Project: MI5 in Northern Ireland MI5 T Branch Military Reaction Force Special Reconnaissance Unit Ulster Defence Regiment Force Research Unit Political Affairs Branch (Northern Ireland Office) Categories There are a list of categories associated with this page: State Violence and Collusion Project State Violence and Collusion Timeline Northern Ireland References and Resources TheyWorkForYou.com - Northern Ireland Assembly Conflict Archive on the Internet Information and source material on 'the Troubles' and politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present. Includes PRONI Records on CAIN Bloody Sunday Inquiry Rosemary Nelson Inquiry Billy Wright Inquiry Report of the De Silva Review Report of the Smithwick Inquiry British Irish Rights Watch NGO concerned with the human rights dimension of the Northern Ireland conflict and latterly the peace process. The Pat Finucane Centre Human rights group named after solicitor murdered in 1989 by loyalists acting in collusion with elements of British intelligence. Justice for the Forgotten Group campaigning on behalf of the families of those killed in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. Relatives for Justice Belfast based organisation working with the families of the victims of state violence and collusion. Omagh Support and Self Help Group Group campaigning for the victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb. The McGurk's Bar Massacre Campaign for the victims of the 1971 McGurks Bar bomb. Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Book: John McGuffin, The Guineapigs Book: Aly Renwick, Oliver's Army News and Media Newshound Links to Daily newspaper articles about Northern Ireland. Slugger O'Toole Blog on Northern Ireland politics The Detail Investigative journalism website EamonMallie.com Website of journalist Eamonn Mallie. Also features contributions from security correspondent Brian Rowan. Cic Saor/Free Kick Blog of journalist Paul Larkin.

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