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Castlerock - Collusion
A British political & military policy objective
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
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Collusion
the origins of the policy of
 In 1970 Brigadier Frank Kitson took command of the 39th Brigade, which
covered the Belfast area. Kitson was the British Army’s expert on
counter-insurgency.
 Kitson wrote: ‘The fundamental concept is the working of the
triumvirate, civil, military and police, as a joint and integrated
organisation from the highest to the lowest level of policy making,
planning and administration.’
 On the use of pseudo gangs, death squads, and the corruption of justice
Kitson said: ‘Everything done by a government and its agents in
combating insurgency must be legitimate. But this does not mean that
the government must work within exactly the same set of laws during
an emergency as existed beforehand.
 ‘The law should be used as just another weapon in the government’s
arsenal, in which case it becomes little more than a propaganda cover
for the disposal of unwanted members of the public.’
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
Collusion 1970’s
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Kitson’s plan implemented – an emergency situation
declared
 Counter-insurgency – the use of informers & agents
 Pseudo gangs – MRF – no claim attacks
 Misinformation & Propaganda
 Organising – UDA/UFF/UVF
 Arming – UDR/RUC weapons
 Directing – sectarian attacks & political assassinations
 Terror tactics against a community as a political
strategy aimed at defeating insurrection
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
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Collusion 1980’s
 National H-Block-Armagh Committee –assassinations
 Hunger strikes – international focus, tactics change
 Direct State killings - loyalists less active
 Republicans engaging electoral politics
 Anglo-Irish Agreement 1985 seeking to thwart SF– switching off
loyalists essential to creating anti-republican consensus
 British policy decision to again priortise military strategy – SAS &
loyalists become more active
 1987/8 – South African weapons shipment
 Loyalists acquiring unprecedented capacity to kill
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
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Collusion 1990’s
 1995 Relatives for Justice Report – Collusion – found 229 loyalist
murders from 1988 until September 1994 involving;
 South African weapons
 Weapons allegedly ‘stolen’ from UDR/RUC
 Victims were detained/arrested & threatened
 Missing files
 Raids on homes detailing security and layout
 Restrictions orders on regular patrols - TCG
 Interface barriers left open
 Security cameras switched off allegedly not working
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Collusion
The political & military Policy objective
 To isolate republicans
 To terrorise republicans & their families - killing women & children
 To terrorise the nationalist community – sectarian attacks
 Attacks on workplaces, where people socialised, homes
 Creating a culture of fear
 Pan-nationalist front
 Creating pressure – This was British Intel not loyalism
 Political conditions & behind the scenes talks – accepting less
 End game strategy by British - Intensification of loyalist campaign
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Collusion
contradiction in ‘security’ exposed
 The SAS were regularly deployed against republicans - TCG
 Despite loyalists being responsible for more attacks and
killings than any other grouping since late 1987 until the end
of the conflict, the British did not deploy the SAS in areas of
Mid-Ulster or North Armagh to prevent attacks
 Investigations into loyalist killings were largely perfunctory –
agents were recruited
 RUC abandoned policy on providing ballistics on weapons re
loyalist attacks and forensics were ‘lost’
 Stevens, Cory & De Silva – a truth emerging, but more to do
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Collusion
Castlerock Attack
 Jimmy Kelly was an active & committed republican
 Like most of his generation his politics were forged in the hunger
strikes and subsequent years
 He understood what was at stake – his family had suffered
through loyalist violence
 Targeting Jimmy Kelly wasn’t enough to deter him or other
republicans of that generation
 Targeting him along with his work friends was a core part of the
British strategy
 Is was about creating wider fear, intimidation, and seeking to
isolate republicans from within their own communities as Kitson
had unsuccessfully tried to do during early 1970’s
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Collusion
Castlerock

Jimmy Kelly was threatened by known RUC members

The RUC passed his details onto loyalists

His movements were monitored

He was detained and harassed regularly and consequently so were his work colleagues

They were followed days prior to the attack and on the morning of the attack by the
RUC and an unmarked car – unusually they were not stopped or harassed

RUC cameras overlooking the scene of the attack were switched off

The weapons used in the attack were allegedly ‘stolen’ from members of the UDR & the
killer gang had strong links to the UDR

The response to the attack was as ineffective as the investigation was

Castlerock had all the common hallmarks of collusion
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
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Collusion
the human impact & loss
 Collusion claimed hundreds of lives
 The majority of those killed were uninvolved nationalist Catholics
 The campaign of collusion was against a community for a particular political
purpose – it was about defeating republicans and everything was permitted
 One of the objectives was to also create a division within the community under
attack
 It was to deflect blame, cause accusation, and to inflame internal tensions – it was
to play on ordinary human emotions and that is totally understandable and we
should not judge
 We all need to understand the human toll, impact and loss as a direct
consequence of the legacy of collusion
 The hurt inflicted as a consequence is incalculable for the bereaved and the
surviving injured – we need to recognise that impact
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Collusion
A failed policy
 Collusion undoubtedly hurt our community – it did not break our
community
 Collusion is a legacy that we need to address as part of the wider peace
process
 This requires an independent process of truth recovery
 It requires us as a community to also document our experiences and
history and to support those affected by it
 It requires us to speak out concerning sham initiatives such as the PSNI’s
Historical Enquiries Team, which has yet to make a finding of collusion
despite examining hundreds of collusion killings
 Post conflict we need to continue to assert our rights and this includes
the right to truth about collusion and state violence
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Remembering
In remembering Jimmy Kelly we also remember
 James McKenna
 Gerard Dalrymple
 Noel O'Kane
They were sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, friends &
comrades.
They were all victims of a British policy of collusion.
They all deserve the truth.
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion
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International day for the
Right to Truth
March 24th 2013
Anniversary of the killing of
Archbishop Romero,
El Salvador
Castlerock 20th Anniversary March 2013- Collusion