152. Britain’s Man Inside the IRA: Unmasking the Traitor (Ep 4)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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”. ------------------- 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: Charlie Rodwell 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

Transcript

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.1	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books.
0:13.1	Join the declassified club at the IRA is spinning out of control.
0:31.0	And that means the secret of his identity is at last going to come out.
0:36.2	Well, welcome to the Rest Disclassified.
0:38.0	I'm David McCloskey.
0:39.2	And I'm Gordon Carrera.
0:40.8	And we are in the finale, Gordon, of our examination of Steakknife, the British Army's agent deep inside the IRA, his real name, of course, Freddie Scapatici.
0:55.0	He has been leading the internal security unit, the counterintelligence function of the IRA,
1:01.2	which investigates and in many cases kills suspected informers.
1:07.8	But as we discussed last time, it is really steakknife British handlers who are deciding who lives and who dies.
1:17.5	And they're making this calculation, this kind of dark moral calculation, weighing steakknife's value as an agent against the lives of the people
1:28.8	that his organization is killing. And it is difficult, it is dangerous. We talked a little bit
1:36.8	last time about the tremendous psychological pressure that Scampatici is beginning to experience after many years of working
1:49.2	as an agent for the British. And we left off in the early 1990s with Scampitici having been
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