Second son of an Arms Trial TD calls for truth after founding PIRA chief Sean Mac Stiofáin named as Garda agent in ‘Deception and Lies, the Hidden history of the Arms Crisis’ by David Burke

Irish Cabinet ministers Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were dismissed by then-taoiseach Jack Lynch after they were alleged to have been involved in the plot to smuggle a shipment of arms to the IRA.

The row led to the infamous Arms Trials of the 1970s which saw no convictions.

Fine Gael TD Richard Burke was a member of the Irish Public Accounts Committee inquiry in 1971 which attempted to investigate details around £100,000 of Irish government money which was secretly used in the affair.

Now, 50 years later, the TD’s son, lawyer David Burke, has published his conclusions on the matter, which he has been researching for 35 years.

In 1971 the committee “got nowhere” because the Garda would not cooperate with the TDs, he said.

“My father’s conclusion of the whole affair was puzzlement ‘what the hell was going on?’ Which undoubtedly planted the seed in my head to see if I could find out what had happened.”

His book, ‘Deception and Lies, the Hidden history of the Arms Crisis 1970’ was written, he says, with support from IRA and Garda figures but only minimal input from the Haughey family.

His thesis was that the entire arms smuggling operation was totally legitimate because it was backed by the Taosieach and Irish cabinet.

Controversially, he believes they never supplied any weapons to the IRA and only intended to arm civilian Catholics in the event of massive civil disorder.

Seán Haughey TD’s claim that founding PIRA chief Sean Mac Stiofáin was a Garda agent has ‘stunning implications’ says UUP’s Doug Beattie

Mac Stiofain revelations: ‘Republicans are very fond of inquiries – so what about now?’

The lawyer claims to have fresh evidence to prove then Taoiseach Jack Lynch’s involvement in the operation, having spoken to a surviving TD who was given the background by then Defence Minister Jim Gibbons.

He notes that a military directive from Gibbons - declassified a few years ago - says that “the Taoiseach has instructed that weapons are to be made available for the people in Northern Ireland”.

The arms were only to be made available, Mr Burke claims, if there was a repeat of civil disorder on the scale of August 1969.

“One of my notions in writing this book is bursting the bubble on the notion that Fianna Fail helped to set up the Provisional IRA,” he said.

Speaking in the Dail this week, the son of one of the Cabinet ministers at the center of the plot - Charlie Haughey - called for the files to be opened to set the record straight.

Fianna Fáil TD Seán Haughey - claimed that leading IRA figure Sean Mac Stiofáin, tipped off Irish authorities about the arms shipment coming into Dublin. It is purported his motive was to undermine his rivals in the terror group before it split into the Official and Provisional IRA, of which he would become Chief of Staff.

If true, it would mean a Garda agent was leading the PIRA in the bloodiest year of the Troubles – 1972 – when it killed 235 people.

UUP Justice Spokesman Doug Beattie says the claim about Mac Stiofáin being a garda Agent is “potentially the biggest scandal by far in terms of government complicity with paramilitaries” and called for a public inquiry into the matter.

Mr Burke is also calling for a public enquiry, and sympathises with the unionist view.

“Mac Stiofáin had been recruited in Cork around 1966 by a fella who later went on to be Garda Commissioner and they genuinely believed that he was a golden goose; he was the director of intelligence of the IRA.

“He sat in at all Army Council meetings he knew everything that was going on. But what the police didn’t realise until 1972 was that he was not a genuine or sincere informer, he was working to his own agenda and was misleading them and they didn’t realise that until it was far too late. In the meantime he had kick-started the Arms Crisis.

“But I am not letting the cops off the hook and Doug Beattie has a good point. But I would like to know how on earth they had been so stupid to not realise until June or July 1972 that Mac Stiofáin was feeding them lies and making fools of them.”

“I definitely think this demands a public inquiry.”

He notes that the Irish Minister for Justice told the Dail this week that there were sensitive files on Mac Stiofáin still in existence and she did not rule out releasing them.

“I have two Garda sources who know all about this have spoken to me because they want a public inquiry, they want it looked at. They are just aghast that 50 years on the full truth is still being covered up by the Irish state in an institutional sense.

“The only way we can get to the bottom of this is to look at the files on Mac Stiofáin and see what he was saying to the Garda, see what stage they should have realised that he was yanking their chain.”

He also believes that it could be helpful to hear what Des O’Malley - a surviving Cabinet minister from the Arms Crisis - has to say about the matter.

TD’s claim that first PIRA chief Sean Mac Stiofáin was a Garda agent has ‘stunning implications’ says UUP’s Doug Beattie

Mac Stiofain revelations: ‘Republicans are very fond of inquiries – so what about now?’

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