Running of informers in the IRA saved 'untold lives' says DUP leader Gavin Robinson after latest Stakeknife report criticises handlers

Gavin Robinson was reacting to the publication today of the final report from Operation Kenova, the police investigation into the saga of the handling of high-ranking IRA informer codenamed Stakeknife – widely understood, but not officially confirmed to be, dead Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci.

The report also contained details from an offshoot of Kenova: Operation Denton, which looked into the state collusion with what is often described as the UVF’s “Glenanne Gang”.

Stakeknife was leader of the IRA’s internal security unit, the Nutting Squad, responsible for killing informers.

There have long been complaints that Stakeknife was protected by his handlers at the expense of his victims because of the importance of the intelligence he was providing.

The report said: “Operation Kenova assesses that there were mechanisms in place to share all military intelligence and to action exploitable or life-saving intelligence.

"However, there is clear evidence that these mechanisms were overlooked at times and vital intelligence and information was not shared with those who could have used it effectively to protect life."

It said that the army and RUC Special Branch’s Army approach to Stakeknife’s intelligence “resulted in vital intelligence that could have been used to save lives and identify suspects being quietly filed away rather than being acted upon”.

It added: “Time and again, it would appear that protecting the agent outweighed protecting the life of a victim or protecting the right of their families to see justice for the crimes committed against their loved ones.”

This builds on the findings of an interim Kenova report, published last year, which found that Stakeknife was not “managed properly”, and that if there had been proper “regulation, supervision and oversight” at the time then “significant wrongdoing and harm would have been avoided”.

It estimated that the number of lives saved by Stakeknife’s intelligence was probably in high single digits or low double digits, “and nowhere near hundreds” as has sometimes been speculated.

Weighed against the number of lives being lost to the Nutting Squad, the interim report said that by allowing Stakeknife to continue as a mole in the IRA, it is “probable that this resulted in more lives being lost than saved”.

East Belfast MP Mr Robinson has now issued a statement, saying "untold lives” were saved by IRA informers.

He said: “Peace in Northern Ireland was won at a high price. The actions of our intelligence services, our Armed Forces, and the courageous men and women of the RUC risked their lives to protect others.

“The Provisional IRA was brought to its knees because it was infiltrated at every level.

"Indeed, such was the infiltration, the PIRA in many areas, because of their paranoia of each other, could barely function.

"The so-called Director of Operations for Sinn Fein, Denis Donaldson, and the head of the PIRA Internal Security Unit, Freddie Scappaticci, also known as Stakeknife, were both agents working for the intelligence services.

"Indeed, we know from many other recollections that Sinn Fein and the PIRA were riddled with agents.

"The Kenova Report confirms that there was no evidence of high-level state collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the Army or security forces, and it recognises the vital role of intelligence work in saving lives.

“Yet it remains absurd that Kenova could not even name Scappaticci, despite his identity having been public knowledge for years.

"The report also makes clear that the UK authorities had no intelligence that could have prevented the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

"That raises an unavoidable question: when will the Irish Government open their books, share their records, and be honest about their own role in allowing the IRA to operate from across the border?

"We cannot wait for inquiry after inquiry.

"Truth and accountability must apply on both sides of the border.”

Today’s report says that “it is in the public interest that Stakeknife is named” formally by the government.

It went on to say: “From the outset of his deployment, the amount of intelligence attributed to Stakeknife was vast.

"Operation Kenova recovered three hundred and seventy-seven intelligence reports attributed to him over an 18-month period at the start of his career as an agent.

"In one 11-day period, it is recorded that he contacted his handlers by phone on two occasions and was met on a further four occasions.

"In total, 3,517 separate reports containing intelligence attributed to Stakeknife were recovered.

"Some ofthese contained only a single line of intelligence or very mundane information, eg, sightings of individuals in the street, individuals seen talking in various drinking establishments or snatches of overheard conversations.

"However, much of it was valuable and many reports contained multiple strands of intelligence over many pages.”