Avsnitt

  • Belfast, May 1996.

    A 17 year-old boy is bundled into a car by four masked men.

    A sock is shoved inside his mouth to dull his screams. He is beaten before being driven at speed to an alleyway in the nearby republican heartland of Ballymurphy. He is removed from the car; his arms and legs are bound with tape and rope. His attackers hang him upside down on a wooden fence. It was like being crucified.

    What happens next is what's known as a 'punishment' beating. Attacks regularly carried out in Northern Ireland by paramilitaries, supposedly, to keep their communities in order.


    That teenager survived, though he was unable to walk for many months. Today, he is a father in his mid 40s who almost three decades after the attack, has received vindication. Paul Reid was handed an apology from the IRA for the brutal and cold attack he received as a teenager.


    Born into a staunch republican family, Paul's father Patsy was a renowned IRA man who was jailed for the attempted murder of two judges. His uncle, Billy Reid, is described in the press as 'republican royalty' after becoming the first IRA man to have shot dead a British soldier.

    His story is as far away from violence as it gets, it's about forgiveness. not only forgiving those who harmed him, but forgiving himself and asking forgiveness from God.


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  • What is ‘collusion?” The dictionary quotes it as: a secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy in order to deceive others.”

    In Northern Ireland, far too many know its devastating reality. 


    On November 9, 1997, 22 year-old Raymond McCord Jnr was lured to the grounds of a disused quarry on the outskirts of Belfast. There, members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) brutally beat him to death. His injuries were so severe, he could be only identified through his fingerprints.


    His murder sparked one of the most damning public inquiries into the workings of the UVF, and the paramilitary gang’s close workings with the RUC.

    Operation Ballast, headed by then police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, revealed how paramilitary killers were protected from prosecution because they were police agents.

    The 2007 report also exposed UVF commander Mark Haddock as a high ranking police informant who carried out several murders, beatings and gun attacks whilst being on the pay roll of the security forces. It was estimated he’d been paid more £80,000 for information whilst his unit conducted a reign of terror in north Belfast and mid ulster. It was on Haddock’s orders that Raymond McCord Jnr was murdered.

    Today, his father speaks to No Edit about the son he lost and his family’s battle to finally get justice for his killing.

    Campaigner Raymond McCord Snr also reveals his own battles with paramilitaries and how a UVF threat on his life remains active to this very day.


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  • In the mid 1990s, Donal Gray was a rising star on the football scene.

    Gaining caps for the Northern Ireland youth squad, he played in the Irish League before his talent saw him signed in Scotland where he had the chance to play against his heroes.


    But his dream of playing professional football was cruelly taken away when, in 1996, the then 19 year-old was subjected to a brutal paramilitary assault in the front garden of his Co Down home.


    Up to 10 masked men attacked the teenager with cudgels, pickaxes and iron bars. His legs were so severely broken, doctors said he would never play football again.


    The so-called punishment beating was carried out by members of the Provisional IRA. The press reported at the time how the rising football star was the 400th victim of the republican paramilitary group's brutal assaults.


    In this episode, Donal talks about the attack, and the long, hard road to both physical and mental recovery.


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  • Born in New York to Irish parents, John Crawley knew from a young age exactly what he wanted to do with his life - join the IRA.

    Enlisting in an elite unit of the US Marine Corps, his only goal was to receive the most intensive military training possible so he could go 'home' to Ireland and fight to end the British occupation of the North.

    He did, and received a total of 45 years in prison for both gunrunning and bomb plots.

    His recently released memoir 'The Yank' recounts his extraordinary experiences during gruelling Marine Corps training, and how, not long after his discharge, he joined the IRA. His life in the Provisonal IRA led him back to America where he would work with notorious American mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger to amass a shipment of weapons only to be captured a gunrunning trawler off the Kerry coast.

    Upon his release, he became one of the masterminds behind the IRA’s plan to throw London’s electrical system into disarray.

    In this interview, Crawley is candid about the people he worked with and unflinching in his commentary on the IRA leadership.


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  • Thomas 'Dixie' Elliott was just 16 years old when he was recruited into the ranks of the Provisional IRA.

    By the age of 19, he was in jail.

    Sentenced to 12 years in prison for the the attempted murder of a British soldier, he had fully committed himself to violent republicanism.

    He claims he saw no other alternative.


    Born to a Catholic mother and a Presbyterian father, he grew up in Derry city during the worst years of civil unrest.. His want to join the IRA was fuelled by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British army's treatment of the nationalist community.


    Now 65 years old, the former blanketman - who shared prison cells with hungerstrikers Bobby Sands and Thomas McElwee - refuses to romanticise the IRA's campaign of violence. In fact, he now belives it was 'for nothing'.


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  • Martin O'Hagan had been at the height of his journalism career when he was brutally executed in the street by members of a loyalist paramilitary gang in September 2001. His last act of bravery was to sheild his wife from the bullets that took his life.


    The Sunday World reporter's brave exposes, hard hitting articles and insightful investigations into the dark underbelly of Northern Ireland's paramafia gangs sadly sealed his death warrant.

    But could his murder, carried out by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), been prevented? And what's stopping police from bringing charges against those involved?


    In this epsiode, Martin's brother Fintan O'Hagan talks about the fight for justice for Martin whose killers have been allowed to roam free despite those willing to give evidence against them. And he talks openly about why he believes the courageous journalist has not only been let down by the authorities, but also by his own industry.



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  • On December 27, 1997, loyalist gunmen unleashed a hail of bullets at the entrance of a packed out disco in Northern Ireland.

    The ruthless attack at the Glengannon Hotel in Co Tyrone left one man dead and three others seriously injured.

    The shooting was in revenge for the INLA prison murder of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright just hours earlier.

    Ruairi Cummings was just 17 when he witnessed the horrors of that night.

    His father Christy was gunned down in front of his very eyes. His injuries left him paralyzed for life.

    Almost 25 years later, the Cummings family are still fighting for justice, and the truth, over the night that changed their lives forever.


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  • Loyalist Alec 'Ozzo' Calderwood was just 17 years-old when he brutally beat Catholic Alexander Reid to death with a breeze block in 1980.

    The father of one was targeted solely because of his religion.


    In this episode, the man who carried out that killing talks about his involement in the purely sectarian murder, being sentenced to life imprisonment and finding God behind bars.

    He speaks frankly about The Troubles, religious hatred, love, God, his regrets, and most importantly, how he wants to see communities in Northern Ireland never return to the past.


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  • On July 8, 1981, a mother of three left her Northern Ireland home to get milk. She never made it home.

    Norah McCabe, 33, was gunned down as she walked down the street by a plastic bullet fired from the barrel of a police man's gun.

    The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) would later claim they were defending officers who were about to be attacked with a petrol bomb as riots and disorder broke out on the streets of Belfast. It was all a lie.

    Over 40 years later, her family still do not know why Norah, whose youngest child was just three months old when she was killed, was targeted with the deadly weapon round.

    Her son James speaks exclusively to No Edit about the mum he never got to love, his family's fight for truth and the ongoing campaign to end the use of plastic bullets that are still being used by police forces around the world today.


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  • Frank Portinari supplied weapons to the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Freedom Fighters at the height of the loyalist gangs' killing campaign in Northern Ireland. But how did a north London lad with seemingly no links to paramilitarism become not only a gunrunner, but the boss of the UDA's Britain base during the deadliest days of The Troubles?

    The reformed terrorist, who once hid some of the UDA's weapons in a school, speaks frankly to Patricia Devlin about his past and his hopes for changing attitudes for the future. Interview originally recorded for YouTube. Check out No Edit with Patricia Devlin's channel.


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  • This is the final episode in a special 4 part series.

    In 'A Spy in Exile - Defiant until Death' former British Agent Martin McGartland talks about surviving an attempted IRA assassination whilst under the protection of MI5. The spy known as 'Agent Carol' reveals what life is really like three decades on since being recruited into the ranks of the RUC's Special Branch and fleeing Northern Ireland. Today, McGartland's life isn't about fighting the IRA, but battling the very people who signed him up to work on behalf of the British State. And he vows to continue that battle until the death.

    He says: "If there is a place on earth close to hell, I've been there a few times, and I'll be back again".

    Background

    During the Northern Ireland Troubles, Martin McGartland was one of MI5's most priceless assets. Born into a staunchly republican family in the IRA heartland of west Belfast in the 1970s, the British spy, codenamed Agent Carol, went on to infiltrate one of the most feared and ruthless terror gangs in the world. He stopped shootings, bombings and murders but his fearless undercover activities came at a price. Now living in exile under a secret identity, McGartland gives his most in depth and explosive interview to date. And he reveals how MI5 ended up treating him worse than the IRA who tried to murder him.


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  • On March 5, 1996 John Fennell - a founding member of the republican paramilitary group the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) - was bludgeoned to death at a caravan park in Ireland.

    The 40 year-old's brutal breeze block killing marked the second in a vicious internal feud that would see many others, including a nine year-old schoolgirl, lose their lives just two years before peace was brokered in Troubles-torn Northern Ireland.

    In a powerful, raw and open interview, John's widow Deirdre Owens tells his story. Speaking indepth for the first time about losing her partner, and father of her 10 month old twin boys, she reveals how for 26 years she has been quietly fighting for not only justice, but also a proper investigation into his killing.

    Despite being stonewalled by both the Irish and British authorities, she vows to continue to uncover the truth around his murder, even if it means doing it on her own. And she explains why she believes there was British State involvement in his death.


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  • This is Episode Three in a special four part series.

    In 'A Spy in Exile - Defying Double Death', former British agent Martin McGartland talks about the day that changed his life forever.Kidnapped by the IRA and awaiting execution, the unmasked MI5 spy manages to escape torture and death. But that day wasn't to be his worst.Despite starting a top secret life under the protection of the British security services away from Northern Ireland, he goes on to miracously survive IRA assassination yet again.Here, he describes how his disdain and anger isn't directed at the terror gang that tried to kill him twice, but for his so-called protectors.

    During the Northern Ireland Troubles, Martin McGartland was one of MI5's most priceless assets. Born into a staunchly republican family in the IRA heartland of west Belfast in the 1970s, the British spy, codenamed Agent Carol, went on to infiltrate one of the most feared and ruthless terror gangs in the world. He stopped shootings, bombings and murders but his fearless undercover activities came at a price. Now living in exile under a secret identity, McGartland gives his most in depth and explosive interview to date. And he reveals how MI5 ended up treating him worse than the IRA who tried to murder him - twice.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • This is the second espisode in a special four part series.

    During the Northern Ireland Troubles, Martin McGartland was one of MI5's most priceless assets.

    Born into a staunchly republican family in the IRA heartland of west Belfast in the 1970s, the British spy, codenamed Agent Carol, went on to infiltrate one of the most feared and ruthless terror gangs in the world.

    He stopped shootings, bombings and murders but his fearless undercover activities came at a price.

    Now living in exile under a secret identity, McGartland gives his most indepth and explosive interview to date. And he reveals how MI5 ended up treating him worse than the IRA who tried to murder him - twice.

    In this episode, McGartland talks about his double life, being involved in the IRA murder of a British soldier on leave from his London regiment to visit the Belfast woman he planned to marry. He also talks about foiling what would have been one of the IRA's biggest massacres in its history and how it almost cost him his life.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • During the Northern Ireland Troubles, Martin McGartland was one of MI5's most priceless assets.

    Born into a staunchly republican family in the IRA heartland of west Belfast in the 1970s, the British spy, codenamed Agent Carol, went on to infiltrate one of the most feared and ruthless terror gangs in the world.

    He stopped shootings, bombings and murders but his fearless undercover activities came at a price.

    Now living in exile under a secret identity, McGartland gives his most indepth and explosive interview to date. And he reveals how MI5 ended up treating him worse than the IRA who tried to murder him - twice.

    This is the first espisode in a special four part series. McGartland talks about his childhood, how his 12 year-old sister was recruited into the ranks of the IRA and describes how a hatred for terrorism saw him groomed by the British security services.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • At 16 years-old he joined the Provisional IRA. By the age of 18, he'd carried out murder.

    Prominent Belfast-born republican Anthony McIntyre talks candidly about his life before and after joining the Irish Republican Army. From picking up a machine gun at the age of 14, to prison, the Blanket Protests and hungerstrikes, McIntyre speaks rawly about his own journey through the republican movement and overcoming the bigotry that consumed him during the dark period known as The Troubles.

    Now aged 64 and living outside of Northern Ireland, he reflects on the past and the ongoing Boston College tapes controversy that's now synonymous with his name.


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  • He was one of the UK's most ruthless terrorists.

    Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair was so dangerous, the British authorities brought in a law to jail him for life. Now in 2022, over 20 years since he was released from prison, Adair talks about his paramilitary past, attempts on his life, fleeing Northern Ireland and his continued support for peace - but at what cost?

    The convicted director of terrorism also gives his views on allegations of collusion within his own paramafia organization, the instability surrounding Brexit and Northern Ireland protocol; the current threat paramilitaries pose to peace and why he believes a truth commission would only the further hurt many victims of the Troubles. This interview was orginally recorded for YouTube.

    Hit link to view: https://youtu.be/qbWS7zcdXuU

    Don't forget to like and subscribe!


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  • Former undercover police officer turned crime author Stephen Bentley reveals the unknown details of one of the most audacious covert cop operations in UK history.

    Operation George saw British police officers form a fake organized crime gang that duped loyalist terror killer Jim Fulton into confessing to a litany of crimes, including the sectarian murder of an innocent grandmother.

    The former police officer also talks about his time working on one of the biggest undercover police operations to have taken place on British soil. Operation Julie saw a young Bentley infiltrate a Welsh LSD drugs gang during the 1970s, smashing two drug production and distribution centres, and the jailing of over 15 people for 120 years.


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  • It was a tragedy that shocked Ireland, and beyond.

    The bodies of three children, aged just 9, 7 and three years-old, were discovered at their Dublin home.

    Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley lost their lives to homicide - their mother Deirdre Morley, a paediatric nurse, was arrested on suspicion of their murders.

    In May 2021, the 44 year-old was found not guilty of their murders by reason of insanity.

    Her trial, which revealed the horrific details of how she took her children's lives, raised serious questions over the care and treatment of psychiatric patients in the country.

    Deirdre's husband Andrew publicly said he believed their children would still be alive today had mental health services involved him in her care.

    In a powerful, open and emotional conversation with The No Edit podcast, Andrew McGinley talks about his unimaginable loss, his ongoing battle with grief and the legacy he hopes to create for his children.


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