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31 December 2006 1976: British wanted gardai to quiz journalist regarding IRA stories —by Rory Rapple, Sunday Business Post  British diplomats took a particularly dim view of what they interpreted as journalist Vincent Browne’s close relationship with the Provisional IRA. British diplomats took a particularly dim view of what they interpreted as journalist Vincent Browne’s close relationship with the Provisional IRA. John Hickman, acting British ambassador, was especially annoyed with the ‘‘blase“ and ‘‘unexcited’’ attitude of Sean Donlon, the civil servant in charge of Anglo-Irish relations at the Department of Foreign Affairs, when the nature of Browne’s contacts with the IRA were queried during a meeting on September 21, 1976 at Iveagh House. According to Hickman’s account of the conversation Donlon stated ‘‘the Provisionals invariably use Browne when they wish to make a major public impact in the southern press’’. Donlon suggested Browne’s recent interview with anonymous members of the Provisional leadership for the Sunday Independent was ‘‘entirely authentic’’, adding ‘‘from internal evidence - for example, the use of the word ‘chimera’ - one of the people interviewed was clearly Rory O’Brady’’. Hickman then suggested ‘‘Browne might be a good deal more than a willing channel for Provisional views’’, adding the British ‘‘had heard rumours he had, or claimed to have, inside knowledge of past Provisional actions which he should have made available to the Irish authorities’’. Hickman noted ‘‘Donlon did not challenge this’’, choosing instead to tell ‘‘a number of stories of Browne’s activities as the Irish Press correspondent in Belfast in the early ’70s, which confirmed he had co-operated with the Provisionals to a degree which went well beyond the legitimate contacts of a journalist’’. When Hickman then suggested it would be ‘‘appropriate’’ for Browne to be questioned in forthright terms by the Garda to ‘‘discover whether he had any unpublished information of interest’’, Donlon did not respond.   However, Browne’s capacity to annoy the British government was eclipsed by Robert Fisk’s. Fisk who had previously been The Times’ Belfast correspondent, was particularly criticised by British diplomats for an interview he gave to RTE about the deployment of the SAS in south Armagh in January 1976, which was described as ‘‘vicious, even by his standards’’. Fisk had outlined alleged ‘‘shady operations’’ that the SAS had previously carried out in the North. In February 1976, an article he wrote for The Times contained a supposed ‘‘confidential army memo’’ which was scathing about the quality of the British press coverage of the North. Confidential correspondence from the Ministry of Defence dated February 25 about the article described Fisk as a ‘‘strongly anti-establishment’’ journalist who ‘‘has lost no chance of denigrating the army’’. The letter alleged Fisk had been ‘‘fed information by Mr Colin Wallace, a senior information officer at army headquarters at Lisburn until February 1975’’. According to the letter signed by John Mayne, a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence, Wallace was subsequently ‘‘allowed to resign’’ from the Civil Service ‘‘in view of his previous good service’’. Wallace has since consistently alleged his resignation had more to do with what he knew about the Clockwork Orange project, a rumoured attempt to smear British politicians, including prime minister Harold Wilson. Page updated 8 Jan 2007 Ireland's OWN Logo by Eamann Website Design and Celtic Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2007 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.