Colin Smith wrote a fascinating account in yesterday's Observer on his dealings with the Croydon councillor, Maria Gatland (née Maria McGuire), who was outed last week as a former member of the IRA.
In 1971, she played a short and undistinguished role in the Provisionals, culminating in her writing a series of articles for The Observer explaining why she had quit the IRA. En passant, and buried deep in his article, Smith reveals that despite her not requesting money the paper paid her a fee for her story.
It is true to say, as Smith does, that she had never committed any criminal offences in the UK. But I wonder if any paper would sanction such a payment today?
