The “informer” and the political and organisational culture of the Irish republican movement: old and new interpretations

Abstract

This article will analyse recent interpretations of the 'informer' as a subject of political and historical significance for a balanced understanding of the trajectory of the Provisional Republican movement. It will do so in part through a discussion of some recent fiction and memoir-writing devoted to the figure of the informer. Specifically, this will involve an exploration of the recent fictional re-imagination of the real-life case of Denis Donaldson, by the French journalist Sorj Chalandon (Mon traître, 2007 and Retour à Killybegs, 2011). 1 In the first section, the article analyses the historical evolution of the phenomenon and recent revelations regarding the apparently widespread existence of informers in the movement during the Troubles. This section engages with the academic debate concerning the effects of these revelations upon the morale and internal political culture of the republican movement; it is argued here that the 'Republican family' has been significantly affected by these disclosures in the 'post-conflict' era, and that they have become an important element in the contestation between leadership supporters and 'dissenters' within contemporary republicanism. The second section utilises old and new literary representations of 'the informer', particularly based around Liam O'Flaherty's The Informer and Chalandon's work, to discuss continuities and changes in the image and perception of this phenomenon. It is argued that the interweaving of fiction with real-life and factual historical detail is a particularly appropriate means of interpreting the role and effects of the informer.

Informing, Intelligence, and Public Policy in Northern Ireland: Some Overlooked Negative Consequences of Deploying Informers against Political Violence

“…12 Revelations that figures close to the Adams-McGuinness leadership, such as former senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson or Stakeknife, were informers have provided further opportunity for such charges to be made. Donaldson has been pinpointed as an 'agent of influence' who allegedly helped to silence any internal dissension within the Republican movement in the prelude to the peace process (Hopkins 2017;Leahy 2020), while Stakeknife has recently been linked to the removal of a number of hardline IRA figures (BBC 2019). Although based on conjecture, rumour, and supposition, rather than objective analysis of cold, hard facts, this media circus has created unhelpful background noise.…”

“…This heroification of intelligence agencies and informers as the people who 'won' peace for the north of Ireland also pervades the memoirs of informers and/ or their handlers. While there are, of course, moral, political, commercial, and legal considerations at play when these individuals choose to record their activities (Dudai 2012;Hopkins 2017), these accounts have largely echoed, without inflection, Matchett's belief that the IRA were 'defeated' in the intelligence war thanks to the courage and dedication of intelligence agencies and the sources they handled.…”

The unfinished revolution of ‘dissident’ Irish republicans: divergent views in a fragmented base

“…However, debate continues around the impact of informers on the Republican Movement as illustrated by Hopkins: 'The extent to which the use of informers contributed to the strategic containment of the republican movement, if not the defeat of the IRA campaign as such, has become a key component of the post-conflict contestation within what might be broadly understood as the 'republican family'. 103 Revelations of agents operating at a senior level within Sinn Féin, such as Denis Donaldson, 104 have fuelled suspicions regarding policy and strategy. 105 However, Leahy has argued that infiltration actually had a limited impact on PIRA operations due to the elusive nature of many rural units, the cell structure of the organisation and the isolation of the IRA leadership from the rest of the Movement, 106 points that are often understated in the prevailing narrative on the effectiveness of informers.…”