Britain to send spies, royals for 1916 events

Posted by Jim on March 28, 2015

A secret British army undercover unit may be redeployed to the north in
the run-up to the centenary of the 1916 Rising, according to reports.

It has been reported that up to 60 members of the Special Reconnaissance
Regiment (SRR) have already been returned to the Six Counties in advance
of commemorations this year to mark the 99th anniversary of the
insurrection against British Rule on the streets of Dublin.

Officially MI5 carries out the majority of intelligence gathering work
for Crown-force agencies in the north. However, in the past the British
army has also carried out its own military-grade spying operations.

The 14th Intelligence Company, a forerunner to the SRR, was involved in
suspected shoot-to-kill incidents and has been accused of carrying out
political assassinations with loyalists. Other British army units,
including the Military Reaction Force, were heavily involved in
directing sectarian killings. Members of the unit are believed to have
killed several innocent Catholic men after it was set up in 1971.

Reports of the deployment comes as it appears increasingly likely a
leading member of the British royal family will attend one of the major
commemorative events in Ireland in 2016.

Sinn Fein has criticised the idea. Earlier this month, party delegates
backed a motion against inviting any British royal or government member
from attending any official state event during the 1916 Rising
commemorations at their annual conference in Derry.

But Dublin government officials have expressed concern that the
anniversary of the Rising could spark a resurgence of interest in the
Irish national cause.

“Let us seek to ensure that the Ireland 2016 commemorative programme
does not become an unnecessarily divisive issue,” the 26 County Foreign
Minister Charlie Flanagan wrote this week. He said he wanted to invite
“international friends and partners” to reflect on the events
surrounding the rising.

His comments were echoed this week by Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, who
said centenary commemorations must be inclusive and reflect all
perspectives of the event.

The deputy first minister stressed the need for a “mature and
inoffensive” approach as he launched his party’s plans to mark the 100th
anniversary of the Rising next year.

Noting the colours of the Irish tricolour, Mr McGuinness said: “The
orange part of the flag is as important as the green and I think we are
very proud to be part of that generation of Irish republicans that is
prepared to appreciate that, is prepared to accept that as we face into
difficult challenges.”

The publicity event saw uniformed re-enactors dramatise some of the
events of 1916, including the declaration of the Republic on the steps
of the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin.

Mr McGuinness said the leaders’ vision of a republic remained
“unfinished business”.

“So the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising is a time to build – it is a
time to rededicate ourselves to the achievement of the Republic declared
in 1916 – so let us imagine and achieve that better future.

“I have been an Irish republican for over 40 years and over that very
lengthy period of time this is absolutely the most exciting time to be
an Irish republican because of the growth of support for our party
because of the desire to use our mandate wisely for the purposes of
bringing about our primary political objective, which is the unification
of our country by purely peaceful and democratic means. I think all of
this is achievable.”