Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Charge over Nairac killing
Following on from my blog on the arrest of a man over the killing of Captain Robert Nairac, the BBC are reporting the charging of a man “believed to be Kevin Crilly” who “will appear in Newry Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment.”
Turgon @ 06:31 PM
Best of luck to the lad.
Posted by on May 21, 2008 @ 06:57 PMIn my small workshop I am fashioning a medal and I’m damned if I can decide to go for Gold or silver gilt.Have you any horticultural leanings O Turgon?
Posted by on May 21, 2008 @ 09:56 PMWonder why they could / can charge him now?
As an aside I see that Brian Keenan has died. Apologies if I’m beign stoopid but I couldnt see a mentioen of it on the blog.
Posted by on May 22, 2008 @ 12:17 PMYet again I come across posts which are inexplicable to me:
What are we to make of IRIAs reponse? What has the IRAs Brian Keenan got to do with news of a murdered soldier (sorry - the IRA presumably murdered him).Most of all - what on earth is Panchos Horse on about?
And before you ask - I am not stoopid.Posted by on May 22, 2008 @ 03:53 PMIf the suspect is proven to have helped kidnap and imprison falsely Captain Robert Nairac, I hope it bring closure to his family about his killing, but I cannot think of any operative I have less sympathy for than the former Grenadier officer.
Nairac was a foolish, vicious operator who got what he deserved, carrying on in the Republic when all kinds of illegal operations were going on - e. g., the kidnapping and killing pf IRA Captain Peter Cleary, the murder of Seamus Ludlow in the Republic before him, etc.
Nairac advertised his Army role by going around in battle uniform in public places, and aped being Irish when he was killed.
He deserves no one’s respect.
Posted by on May 23, 2008 @ 12:04 PMGT
y blog I meant “ slugger o toole” as a whole - not this post. That’s whay I said, “as an aside”Posted by on May 23, 2008 @ 12:08 PM“Nairac advertised his Army role by going around in battle uniform in public places, and aped being Irish when he was killed.
He deserves no one’s respect. “
Thank you for that generous and kind-hearted comment.
Posted by on May 23, 2008 @ 08:22 PMIf you read Father Murray’s assessment of Nairac, just before and then when the SAS started going wild in South Armagh and in the Republica, in The SAS in Ireland, especially the following, perhaps you too will change your mind about this mindess killer:
“When the SAS was sent in to South Armagh in big numbers in 1976, Nairac was its guide and mentor.He was still based in Castledillon but had a bedroom in Bessbrook Army center and often stayed there. Nairac became a familiar figure in Crossmaglen and the South Armagh area. Sometimes he appeared in uniform with the resident regiment; other times he moved around in his donkey jacket and sported a moustache. He continually tried to make conversations with local people and attended republican commemorations in cemeteries. He went on uniform patrols in Crossmaglen and went out of his way to chat people up. In fact photographys of Nairac circulated freely around Crossmaglen before he was assassinated.” (p. 149)
For a short list of what he covertly helped achieve, see pp. 457-8.
The guy was a complete nutcase.
Posted by on May 24, 2008 @ 08:01 AMAnyone seen Liam Clarke’s article today in the Sunday Times, praising Robert Nairac as the ideal counterterrorist - the model for the Force Research Unit - whose exploits helped defeat the terrorists?
It’s hard to imagine a more wrong-headed account.
Nairac was really a forerunner of the 14 Intelligence Company, a cross between the SAS and
the FRU which sided much more towards the former than the later when it came to taking action against republicans.Nairac certainly went head-hunting in the Republic to kill republican leaders, murdering John Franic Green, IRA captain Peter Cleary, and forester Seamus Ludlow in the process. Then there was his involvement in killing of three members of the Miami Showband. For more on his handiwork, see Father Murray’s The SAS in Ireland, p. 147ff.
Colin Wallace, a leading military intelligence officer involved in Operation Clockwork Orange - one lacking moral courage behind the campaign to defeat the Provos - was so appalled by Nairac’s wild ways that he called for a whole new rethink of the handling The Troubles in N. I.
Nairac’s ways were continued after he was murdered by operators like Captain Simon Hayward - and given what Nairac had done, it was to be expected that he would be most harshly treated if the Provos ever got their hands on him - until the Thatcher government started having second thoughts about 14 Intelligence Company ways, starting with the capture of the Eksund, and becoming serious after the cull on The Rock.
In short, instead of Nairac being an inspiration for shortening The Troubles, his actions and model helped extend them for nearly a generation.
Posted by on May 25, 2008 @ 02:43 PM
