Myths and Claims

Recently in the media it has been inferred that IRA volunteers and members of the republican family/community were forbidden to contact the RUC under any circumstances about anything. Some commentators inferred that this was the position of the republican leadership and was understood and accepted by all in the republican community. This myth was offered as a reason why certain alleged crimes by certain alleged republicans and those who were aware of them, were kept secret. I have never been aware of an actual IRA volunteer or leader who has expressed this law at ay time during the conflict. In fact quite the opposite was true in numerous circumstances.

IRA volunteers were correctly and actively encouraged to make complaints to their solicitors against the RUC and Special Branch when they had been abused and tortured by them. This was intended to result in court cases against the RUC/Special Branch/British Army. This tactic was intended to maximise the amount of cases won in court against them so that international opinion could be influenced and mobilised against British torture. It was also a means to clog up the legal system and often resulted in financial rewards for successful compensation claims. A further benefit was that it could put pressure on the interrogation staff and their masters to reduce the amount and extent of torture used on volunteers. Utilising the Northern Ireland legal system itself to fight against the inherent injustice of the Northern Ireland legal system was a perfectly good strategy and no one had any problem with that after the "Refuse to Recognise the Court" days were over.

IRA volunteers and supporters were also encouraged to claim for social security payments to increase their personal security after they had been contacted by the RUC to inform them that they were officially being informed that loyalist death squads intended to kill them. The volunteer would have to make a statement that the RUC were aware that loyalists now had their personal details. The volunteer or community member would have to tell the social security staff that the RUC would be the witness to confirm the death threat and this would secure a payment for security equipment to be installed at the intended victims’ home.

During the conflict anyone who ever had their car stolen or hijacked or their house broken into, had to go to the RUC to make an official complaint and to give all information pertaining to the crime or it would be impossible to have an insurance claim or any kind of financial reimbursement. This was also the case for the thousands of houses that were taken over by the IRA for operations - if there had been any damage caused to the property. The same was true of anyone whose giro social security payment went missing in the post – the RUC had to be contacted and a statement made or no new giro could be issued.

All these examples and more were common knowledge and commonly utilised as the norm. All volunteers and all members of the community and anyone else were of course expressly forbidden under any circumstances to contact the RUC with information about IRA operations or activities. That was very different indeed from the everyday necessary registering of civil complaints about everything from a drunken husband punching his wife in the face, or a drunken wife utilising her stiletto heel shoe to leave her husbands head like a golf ball, to even more serious civil crimes. Everyone knew and understood the difference.

There never was a law prohibiting contacting social services or the RUC when it came to civil offences or compensation claims would never have been the big industry that it was and still is here. So there must be some other reason why certain alleged crimes by certain alleged republicans were kept secret by other alleged republicans who claim that they knew all along about the allegations.