NI: Northern Irelandincluding Brian Nelson (feature)
01 September 1996
It has emerged that Brian Nelson was released from prison in England last February. Nelson was serving a ten year sentence after pleading guilty to five specimen charges of conspiracy to murder and possession of information likely to be of use for acts of terrorism. Nelson was an intelligence officer for the now illegal Ulster Defence Association and acted as an agent for the Forward Reconnaissance Unit of the British army for ten years (see Statewatch, vol 2 no 2 & 4, vol 3 nos 2 & 4, vol 4 no 3, vol 5 no 3). Nelson and the Ministry of Defence are facing legal actions by solicitor Pat Finucane's widow and by Sinn Fein Councillor Alex Maskey. In both cases it is alleged that Nelson, with the assistance of British military intelligence, assisted loyalists in targeting the men. (In different attacks, Finucane was murdered but Maskey survived).
Censorship
Questions are being asked about the role of the media during the Drumcree stand-off in July. A screening of SAS - The Soldiers' story was due for broadcast on 11 July but was withdrawn at the last minute "because of increased tension in the Province" announced ITV. The programme depicts undercover operations including a reconstruction of an SAS ambush at Drumnakilly, Co. Tyrone in 1988.
Two recent memos circulating within the BBC Northern Ireland have been leaked to the press. During July, programmers were advised not to run trailers for Irish language programmes too close to news bulletins. Another memorandum advises that the word Taoiseach should not be used routinely when referring to Irish premier John Bruton, even though this is his official title. News writers have been told to speak of "Irish Prime Minister, John Bruton" instead, and told to use "Taoiseach" only when necessary to distinguish between British and Irish premiers.
Nemesis Nonsense
On 31 July, the RUC arrested Paul Bruce (a pen name) and took him to Belfast for questioning under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Bruce is author of The Nemesis File: The True Story of an Execution Squad (Blake Publishing). When first published the book was dismissed by the authorities and republicans alike as a work of fantasy. Bruce claims to have been part of an SAS squad which murdered 30 IRA members and buried them in unmarked graves on the early 1970s. Bruce himself says he killed 13 men. In the last chapter of the book he admits to having serious drink and other problems but that writing the book had helped to bury the ghosts of the past. The book contains several photographs of alleged burial sites but its claims of authenticity are perhaps best revealed by a photograph which carries the caption "Troops try to halt a Civil Rights demonstration in Belfast, 1971". The picture is very obviously not of a civil rights march: the distinctive bowler hats of the Orange Order are clearly visible, as is the face of the Rev William McCrea, now a Westminster MP for Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party, and the scene is of a country lane, not Belfast.
McCrea recently shared a platform with Billy Wright (see Statewatch, vol 6 no 4) at a rally in Portadown. The rally was called in support of Wright after the leadership of the Ulster Volunteer Force stood down the Portadown unit and ordered Wright to leave Northern Ireland ("or face the consequences"). One story coming from the UVF leadership (which appeared in the New Statesman) is that Wright is working for MI5. If this is the case, it has not provided immunity for the self-styled "rat-pack" who surround Wright, at least two of whom have recently been convicted for activities associated with protection rackets and drug dealing (Spotlight, BBC 1, 8.10.96).
The arrest of "Bruce" seems to have been prompted by the publisher's plans to re-issue the Nemesis File with a new chapter written by Fred Holroyd - a draft of which was seized by the RUC. Holroyd worked for MI6 in the early 1970s.
Phoenix Book
Dr Susan Phoenix, the widow of RUC<