Mr Campbell said,
“Some of the unrecognised heroes of the Troubles were those who worked in secret to gather intelligence and infiltrate terrorist organisations. Those people debilitated terrorists of all shades to such an extent that terrorists were unable to fully function.
Whether Denis Donaldson as head of Sinn Fein administration or Scappaticci as head of the ‘nutting squad’, it is accepted by most, except the republican leadership, that the IRA and the wider republican movement, was so heavily infiltrated with informers that it had no choice but to end its terrorist campaign of bombing and shooting. The irony of the passing of one prominent such individual on the anniversary of the Belfast Agreement will not be lost on many.
There some suggestions that Belfast IRA had 100 police informers alone. Indeed, after Martin Ingram alleged Martin McGuiness was an informer, the IRA held an investigation with a senior IRA source telling the late Henry McDonald, “no one is above suspicion”.
In many cases, it now seems that during the 80s and 90s, senior republicans spent more time working for the intelligence services than they did the IRA.
Whilst Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald spend many weekends lauding IRA terrorists as heroes, they fail to deal with the uncomfortable reality that people such as Jim Lynagh, Paddy McKearney and Seamus McElwaine who Sinn Fein idolise, are in their grave because people in Sinn Fein were more committed to their MI5 pension than the republican project.
When Michelle O’Neill inaccurately says there was ‘no alternative’ for the IRA, it would seem lots of IRA members found an alternative – they worked for MI5.
The question remains however, how many in Sinn Fein are still on the MI5 pay roll?”