Michelle O'Neill Apologises as Report Exposes Role of IRA Undercover Agent

The interim findings of Operation Kenova have heavily criticised the handling of an undercover agent in the Provisional IRA during The Troubles.
Michelle O'Neill Apologises as Report Exposes Role of IRA Undercover Agent
Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill reacts with candidates and party workers as the count continues in the Northern Ireland council elections in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, on May 19, 2023. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Chris Summers
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Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O'Neill has apologised to the families of alleged informers who were murdered by the Provisional IRA after a report condemned the handling of an undercover agent.

The interim findings of Operation Kenova, which examined 101 abductions and murders carried out by the IRA’s notorious Internal Security Unit (ISU)—known as the “nutting squad”during the period in which an undercover agent known as Stakeknife was operating, were released on Friday.

The ISU, led by Stakeknife, interrogated, tortured, and murdered several suspected informers during The Troubles.

Although his identity has never been officially confirmed, Stakeknife was outed in the press as Freddie Scappaticci in 2003, a claim he consistently denied until his death in April 2023, aged 77.

Operation Kenova—which was undertaken by Bedfordshire Police, cost £40 million, and ran for seven years—concluded more lives had been lost than saved as a result of Stakeknife’s activities.

Kevin Winters, a lawyer representing some of the victims, described Stakeknife’s role in the IRA’s ISU as a “macabre joint enterprise.”

He said, “We are left with the horrendous conclusion and takeaway message that both the state and the IRA were co-conspirators in the murder of some of its citizens.”

Ms. O'Neill, who is the vice president of Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the IRA, said on Friday: “I’ve said it before and I’m going to repeat it again today for all those families out there that lost a loved one: I am sorry for every single loss of life and that is without exception. That’s for every person who was hurt or impacted by our conflict.”

O'Neill Says UK Government Should Apologise

She said of Operation Kenova, “The report speaks to the need for an apology and I think that that should be forthcoming from the British government.”
In August last year the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in Northern Ireland decided not to charge 16 handlers of Stakeknife following the investigation by Operation Kenova.

The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said the £40 million cost of Operation Kenova was a “huge bill to investigate the activities of one agent in the PIRA.”

He said: “It begs the question if that money might have been better spent on proactive policing today. It is even more disappointing that on the back of such an expensive investigation, the PPS has failed to secure a single prosecution.”

The Kenova team said there was “strong evidence of very serious criminality” by Scappaticci, which they had passed to the PPS prior to his death.

The Operation Kenova report stopped short of confirming Scappaticci as Stakeknife, noting the government’s policy to “neither confirm nor deny” when it comes to the identification of agents, even after their deaths.

They also quashed rumours Scappaticci might still be alive and described a rumour he had met the-then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other Cabinet ministers at Chequers in the 1980s as “wild nonsense.”

Operation Kenova was originally headed up by Bedfordshire Police’s Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who was appointed as head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) last year.

Jon Boutcher during a press conference at Cromac House in Belfast on Nov. 8, 2023, as the newly confirmed chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland following approval by the Northern Ireland secretary. (PA Media)
Jon Boutcher during a press conference at Cromac House in Belfast on Nov. 8, 2023, as the newly confirmed chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland following approval by the Northern Ireland secretary. PA Media

On Friday, Mr. Boutcher told a press conference in Belfast, “Stakeknife’s identity has been disclosed to Kenova subject to obligations of confidentiality, which I remained bound by and I cannot make his name public without official authority.”

In the 208-page report, the Operation Kenova team called on the IRA and the British government to apologise for failings in the intelligence services, in regards to its handling of Stakeknife.

Operation Kenova Blames ‘Maverick Culture’

The report said mistakes and poor decisions were “inevitable and understandable” in intelligence.

But during the Troubles there was a “maverick culture” in existence where agent handling was considered a “dark art” that was kept “off the books.”

Mr. Winters, who represents 12 families of those killed or abducted by the IRA’s ISU, said: “The staggering takeaway message is that the state could have and should have intervened to save lives. That this didn’t happen is legally and morally reprehensible.”

He also insisted Scappaticci was “not the only Stakeknife.”

Ms. O’Neill said she was “wholeheartedly committed” to healing the wounds of the past.

She said: “I represent the Good Friday Agreement generation. A generation that was born into conflict but who are now in a position, because of that agreement 26 years ago, to build the future in a time of peace.”

“This is something that we can never ever take for granted. The hurt and pain caused must never again be repeated and we must always continue to find ways to help people to heal,” Ms. O'Neill concluded.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the government would not comment until the final version of Operation Kenova was published.

But he said, “There can be no doubt that the way Operation Kenova has conducted its work since being commissioned in 2016 has gained the trust of many families who have long been seeking answers as to what exactly happened when their loved ones were so brutally murdered by, and on the orders of, the Provisional IRA.”

PA Media contributed to this report.
Chris Summers
Chris Summers
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Chris Summers is a UK-based journalist covering a wide range of national stories, with a particular interest in crime, policing and the law.
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