150. Britain’s Man Inside the IRA: How to Run a Killer (Ep 2)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did the British security forces recruit agents during The Troubles? And how did the IRA try and hunt down those who had become informers? In the second part of their series on the infamous Stakeknife, David and Gordon explore the murky underworld of informers and agents during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. ------------------- THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026 at The Rest Is Fest: Buy your tickets ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see David and Gordon live on stage at London’s Southbank Centre on 4 September: ⁠https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/the-rest-is-classified-live/⁠ ------------------- Sign-up for our free newsletter where producer Becki takes you behind the scenes of the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign⁠-up⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Join the Declassified Club to go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. Just go to ⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠ or join on Apple Podcasts. ------------------- Get a 10% discount on business PCs, printers and accessories using the code TRIC10. Visit ⁠https://HP.com/CLASSIFIED⁠ for more information. T&C's apply. ------------------- Email: ⁠⁠therestisclassified@goalhanger.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@restisclassified⁠ Video Editor: Lorcan Moullier Social Producer: Emma Jackson Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.0	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books.
0:13.1	Join the Declassified Club at the rest is classified.com.
0:17.3	Music How did the British security forces recruit agents during the troubles?
0:31.0	And how did the IRA try and hunt down those who would become informers?
0:35.8	Well, welcome to the rest is classified.
0:37.3	I'm David McCCloskey.
0:38.7	And I'm Gordon Carrera. And last time, we left off with Freddie Scapatici, number two,
0:47.1	in the IRA's internal security unit, its counterintelligence function. It's the late 1970s.
0:53.7	He is in charge of some pretty dirty work
0:57.6	interrogating and in some cases executing suspected informants who are working for the British
1:05.4	state. But we left off last time with the revelation that Scappatici himself had become an agent for the
1:15.7	British state. And that angle to this story is what we'll be looking at in this episode. Now,
1:22.5	a bit of context last time we briefly looked at different parts of the British security establishment
1:28.7	who are operating in Northern Ireland. We have the RUC, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, or the
1:36.4	police, which kind of has primacy in the area. Its special branch is tasked with collecting
1:42.8	intelligence. Just to set a bit of the table here
1:46.4	for what this conflict felt like if you were a member of the security forces or the IRA
1:51.7	during the late 70s and early 1980s. Interpol data in 1983 showed that Northern Ireland was the most dangerous place in the world to be a police
2:04.3	officer. The risk was twice as high as El Salvador, which was the second most dangerous place
2:09.7	at the time. So this world that Scapitchi is in, these security forces that are attempting to penetrate
2:17.2	the IRA, the IRA that
	...

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