“A Thorn In Their Side”

Seán Gillespie
Strabane ÓSF

One of our most basic of human rights is the right to truth and justice. With that said it is important to remember the relatives of those victims of British state violence in Ireland. The British establishment is currently engaged in a systematic and sustained attempt to cover up the true extent of it’s dirty war here, and to shield their proxy murderous agents from prosecution.



In this new era of relative political stability, is it not now the time for these victims of Britain’s murderous campaign to be granted their most basic of rights? I obviously believe that they should, however I have serious doubts over whether or not the full truth will ever surface. In effect I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it!

It is my belief that Britain will go to the ends of the earth if necessary to save it’s face. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said “The truth is so important during war, that it must be protected by lies” There are elements within the British political and military establishment today who are greatly inspired by these chilling words of one of their “great leaders.

We have always been told by those in power through their right wing media, that Collusion did not exist, that it was a propagandist myth generated by Republicans for their own political ends. Thanks to the work of numerous left wing political activists, and the courageous efforts of relatives, various investigations and reports into collusion have exposed the establishment’s counter claims as false. So the existence of collusion with loyalist death squads is now an accepted fact, but to what extent? How far up the chain of command did it go? What role did successive British prime ministers have in it, or how much did they know was going on? I believe that the answers to these questions aren’t as well known in the public domain as we might like to think!

All through the years of partition, it has been the policy of Britain to propagate a false image of the conflict to suit their political agenda. They tried to depict a sectarian conflict between the Irish, in which Britain was a mediator. More recently we can see the same strategy being implemented in order to portray the issue of collusion in the same light. Collusion is now being portrayed as a few rouge members of the RUC and British army assisting in a sectarian campaign mounted by loyalists. True yes, but nowhere near to the full extent.

We must not allow this issue to be seen merely as a few rotten apples. Although there were more than a few! It is the duty of Republicans to propagate the issue of collusion {and ‘shoot to kill’ for that matter} for what they really were. These were policies devised and sanctioned at the highest political levels in the British system and integrated into the day to day operations of the RUC, British army and MI5. Collusion was murder by proxy. Paramilitary groups were formed from lawless elements of the loyalist population to do the government’s dirty work, In effect shielding that government from international scrutiny. Britain armed loyalists, their intelligence services directed them to kill, and now their judicial system and the PPS are protecting them, all under the watchful eyes of successive prime ministers. The chain of command went right to the top. This policy was a vital tactic to the British government in their military offensive against the Nationalist/Republican population.


So whilst it is widely accepted that collusion did in fact take place, the important conclusion we must draw from this issue to date is that no public admission on the full extent of these war crimes has been made by any elements within the British government. Therefore although we may {or may not} see a few low key convictions of people who were directly involved in certain killings, we must always be aware that for Britain to publicly acknowledge in the eyes of the world that it’s establishment in Ireland had been involved in these horrendous war crimes would be very damaging indeed. Therefore they will do all in their power to ‘protect the truth’. The butchery of Britain’s involvement in Ireland resembles that of the undemocratic practices of ruthless world dictators e.g. Pinochet, Mugabee.

What about us in Ógra Shinn Féin, what can we do to help expose the horrific truth of British war crimes in Ireland? What would the implications of an international admission of guilt from Britain have on their continued claim to jurisdiction over the six counties? I believe we should examine these questions in the time ahead. I am mindful that the issue of collusion has already been a national campaign for Ógra. However given the fact that we have gained a lot of strength since then, I believe that a widespread campaign highlighting the real truth of the dirty war, and agitating at street and local government level could have more success now than in the past when maybe we weren’t as strong. Could we use the strength we have in councils and at every other political level to be a constant ‘thorn in the side’ of the British establishment?

Most of the people murdered through this collusion policy and indeed other repressive policies were a thorn in Britain’s side, a threat that needed to be removed. It would be a fitting tribute to these brave human rights activists if we could be like them, and push this issue so much so that we are seen as a threat to Britain’s international integrity (if you could call it that). The families of those killed deserve truth and justice and the ordinary people of this nation demand a public apology. We must stop at nothing until justice is done and seen to be done!

“When the law is unjust, the only rightful place for any just person is outside of that law”