Ireland's OWN: History

 

27 December 2001 History: British Spies in the 26 Counties —from An Phoblacht Although the militarisation of society and the corruption of policing, the judiciary and all aspects of public life in the Six Counties, as a result of British occupation, has been obvious for decades, what has not been so obvious is the extent to which British military interfence has affected the 26 Counties. While from the early 1970s broadcasting legislation as well as the police, the courts and political life, in general, in the Irish state were gradually subsumed into supporting British counter-insurgency efforts, the results of direct action by British forces were also felt, for exapmple in the Dublin/Monaghan bombings of 1974. However, the British military intelligence network has for long been a hidden but ever-present force working in the shadows of life within the 26 Counties. In December 1972, the extent of that network and its infilitration of An Garda Siochana was dramatically exposed by the arrests of John Wyman and Patrick Crinnion. Wyman, who used various aliases, was a member of the British secret service agency MI6 and was an important agent in the British intelligence network in Ireland. During the 1960s, especially with the outbreak of conflict in the Six Counties and the resurgence in support for the republican struggle, Wyman's network expanded. He recruited several gardai, including members of the Special Branch, as agents � the most important being Detective Sergeant Patrick Crinnion. Crinnion joined the gardai in 1955. He was transferred to Dublin Castle in 1961 and in 1969 was appointed private Secrtary to the then Head of Garda Special Branch, Chief Superintendent John P. Fleming and moved to Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park to control the intelligence section, known as C3. Crinnion was a particularly valuable spy and was ideally placed to supply the British with intellgence on 26-County political and security matters, on republicans in general and on the IRA. In return for money he supplied Wyman with information, photographs and photocopies of numerous files and memoranda, most of it relating to republicans and republican supporters. Included in the tangled web, which was Wyman's spy network, were the Littejohn brothers, Keith and Kenneth. These were two English criminals on the run in Ireland during 1969, with whom British intelligence made contact. They offered to work as British spies in return for amnesty. Their offer was accepted and they were put in contact with Wyman in Dublin. The Littlejohns were told to infiltrate republican circles, kill republican leaders and carry out operations in the 26 Counties designed to discredit the IRA and force the Fianna Fail government to act in a repressive manner towards the movement. In November 1972, Fianna Fail Justice Minister Dessie O'Malley brought the draconian Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill before Leinster House deputies. In the early hours of 2 December, as the bill was being debated in the Dail chamber, British military intelligence agents exploded a number of bombs in Dublin City, killing two people and seriously injuring 127 others. Within hours of news that bombs were exploding on the streets outside, the Bill was passed by a large majority. The Littlejohns were arrested in London on December 20th. The following day Wyman and Crinnion were arrested in Dublin and charged with stealing state secrets. The 26 authortities acted, it appears, out of the knowledge that, having failed to discredit the IRA, the British agents were planning a campaign of political assassinations in the 26 Counties. With the loss of two key agents, the British opted to sacrifice the Littlejohns in exchange for Wyman and Crinnion. In February they were tried in secret and sentenced to just three months. As they had already been held for that time, they were immediately released and flown to London. The Littlejohns were sent to Dublin the following month to stand trial. MI6 agents John Wyman and Patrick Crinnion were arrested in Dublin on 21 December, 1972, 29 years ago this week. Page updated 30 Mar 2008 Ireland's OWN Logo by Eamann Website Design and Celtic Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.