Northern Ireland’s police ombudsman is investigating an allegation that one of the most daring IRA raids on an intelligence-gathering base during the Troubles was deliberately allowed to happen by the security forces.
A former Royal Ulster Constabulary special branch officer has claimed the break-in at the police’s Castlereagh holding centre in east Belfast 13 years ago was part of a ruse aimed at protecting a high-level informant with the Provisional IRA.
At the time of the raid, on St Patrick’s Day 2002, the breach of security at the main anti-terrorist nerve centre for the newly reformed Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) appeared to be a coup for the PIRA.
During the break-in the IRA stole sensitive files containing the codenames of informers working inside both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups.
In the same year there were reports that the operation was an inside job plotted by the security services in collusion with agents working within the PIRA’s Belfast brigade. The aim was to protect an important British state agent working at the top echelons of the Provisionals, it was claimed.
On Friday a spokesman for the police ombudsman in Belfast said: “We can confirm that we have received a referral from the chief constable relating to an allegation from a former police officer that the break-in at the Castlereagh police station was allowed to take place.
“We have written to the solicitors concerned to ask if their client is willing to assist in our investigation and are currently awaiting a response.”
The PSNI said it would be inappropriate to comment as an investigation was taking place.
A former member of the army intelligence squad, the Force Research Unit, which ran agents in Northern Ireland inside the IRA and other paramilitary organisations, said the ombudsman’s decision supported the belief of many ex-security personnel that Castlereagh was an inside job.
Ian Hurst, the whistleblower on the Pat Finucane and ”Stake Knife” scandals, said: “My sources were clear at the time, it was a setup and all part of the game. What people do not understand is there are games being played within one big game by the security forces. And Northern Ireland is just one game among many rather large series of smoke-and-mirrors operations.”
The break-in at Castlereagh and the theft of intelligence files was a blow to PSNI morale. Millions of pounds had to be spent relocating police officers whose personal details were found during the raid.
A month after the raid, on 17 March 2002, Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin, dismissed claims of IRA involvement in the Castlereagh break-in. He said elements in special branch and the British security services had “contrived this crisis in the peace process”.
