Gerry Adams: Security veteran says pressure on the state at time of internment was ‘impossible’ thanks to IRA ‘bedlam’

An ex-Special Branch officer has urged people to remember the “bedlam” which had engulfed Northern Ireland during the time of internment.
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry AdamsFormer Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams

William Matchett was reacting to the news this week that Gerry Adams’ only two Troubles convictions – for trying to escape from jail in 1973 and ‘74 – were being quashed.

The counts were binned after five judges in the UK Supreme Court pored over paperwork from the mid-1970s.

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Ultimately they declared that since Secretary of State Willie Whitelaw – as opposed to a different government minister – had not personally drawn up Adams’ “interim custody order” in July 1973, his internment had been invalid (so therefore he could not be convicted of ‘escaping lawful custody’).

When it came to Whitelaw having to personally authorise every single custody order, the Supreme Court judges said that “there was no evidence that this would place an impossible burden on the Secretary of State”.

Mr Matchett, an ex-detective inspector in the RUC and PSNI (and an author on security matters), takes a different view.

“This place was in total meltdown,” he said.

“What strikes me is you’ve got a government minister, and I think there’s at least one murder every day (and if there’s one murder every day then there’s at least nine or 10 attempted murders).”

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He said the place was “bedlam”, adding: “Now actually, practically, take a step to the side and go: ‘Now we are insisting the top government minister had to personally sign this piece of paperwork for every internee’.

“It’s so impractical as to be impossible. All the guy would be doing would be reading these things every day. I found that incredible.

“From west Africa to Afghanistan I can’t see anywhere where it is at that level, where you’re going to have one top government minister who has the time to sign off detention orders – bearing in mind a lot of people are being detained.

“This place was falling apart. And the people who started it and declared war on the British state was the PIRA in December 1969.”

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The way in which internment operated then was that initially an interim custody order (ICO) was to be made by the Secretary of State, where he considered that an individual was involved in terrorism.

The person detained then had to be released within 28 days – unless the Chief Constable referred the matter to a commissioner.

The detention would then continue while the commissioner considered the matter.

And if the commissioner was satisfied that the person was involved in terrorism, a detention order could be made and they would be held for longer.

It is estimated that around 2,000 people were interned.

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