Britain’s Man Inside the IRA: Unmasking the Traitor (Ep 4)
4/29/20261 hr 5 min
What brought about Stakeknife’s downfall? How did the IRA react when they realised there was a spy at the very top of their organisation? And what was Operation Kenova, and how did it reveal the truth of the Stakeknife case?
In the final part of their journey into the infamous mole inside the IRA, David and Gordon delve into the fractious aftermath of Stakeknife’s exposure as a “tout”.
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First 90 secondsDavid McCloskey· Host0:00
[upbeat music] For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books, join the Declassified club at therestisclassified.com. [upbeat music] Britain's most valuable agent inside the IRA is spinning out of control, and that means the secret of his identity is at last going to come out. Well, welcome to The Rest is Classified. I'm David McCloskey.
Gordon Corera· Host0:38
And I'm Gordon Corera.
David McCloskey· Host0:40
And we are in the finale, Gordon- Mm-hmm ... of our examination of Stakeknife, the British Army's agent deep inside the IRA. His real name, of course, Freddie Scappaticci. He has been leading the internal security unit, the counterintelligence function of the IRA, which investigates and, in many cases, kills suspected informers. Um, but as we discussed last time, it is really Stakeknife's British handlers who are deciding who lives and who dies. Um, and they're making this calculation, this kind of dark moral calculation, um, weighing Stakeknife's value as an agent- Mm-hmm ... against the lives of the people that his organization,