• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

1 2 About the Author A linguist and political scientist by academic background, Robert Ramsay was for many years a senior official at the heart of government in Belfast, London and Brussels. He witnessed at close quarters many of the situations and personalities described in this book and he has maintained contacts right across the political and security spectrum His interest in the theme of terrorism and governance inspired his first book, ’The Corsican Time Bomb’ (ISBN -10-071900893X) and he has also written a memoir of his own career in the UK and EU, entitled ‘Ringside Seats’ (ISBN 9780 7165 3020 6). He is now an international consultant on administrative affairs, dividing his time, when not on foreign assignment, between the coast of County Down and the south of Spain. 3 4 Dedication To James, Jonathan, Carl and Brian; and all theirs. 5 6 Robert Ramsay C ALLING THE SHOTS 7 Copyright © Robert Ramsay (2015) The right of Robert Ramsay to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 1 78554 084 4 (Paperback) ISBN 978 1 78554 085 1 (Hardback) www.austinmacauley.com First Published (2015) Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd. 25 Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5LQ Printed and bound in Great Britain 8 Acknowledgments My sincere thanks go to a great number of friends, colleagues and sources, in both high and low places, whose co-operation made the writing of this book possible. They are too numerous to mention – and many of them would, in any case, prefer to remain in the shadows, which is their natural habitat. They know who they are and that I am grateful to them. May their recompense be a certain satisfaction that this side of the story has at last been told. 9 DECLARATION This book is partly a work of fiction, based on unpalatable facts. Where actual events are described, background details and names have been changed in order to protect the innocent ... and the guilty. 10 ABBREVIATIONS ACC Assistant Chief Constable ASU Active Service Unit, of the (Provisional) IRA BOTDR Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry CASTLE Stormont Castle, administrative seat of the SoS (NI) CC Chief Constable of the RUC CID Criminal Investigation Division of the RUC CLF Commander Land Forces (British Army) CRUM Short for Crumlin Road Prison DIY Do it yourself DST Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, the French equivalent of MI5 FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office GCMG Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George GFA Good Friday Agreement (also known as the Belfast Agreement) GOC General Officer Commanding HMG Her Majesty’s Government HSB Head of the RUC’s Special Branch. These initials were used as a form of address to the officer. HUMINTEL Intelligence from human resources JCB Heavy mechanical digger, manufactured by J. C. Bamford Excavators Limited JSC Joint Security Committee JSC (INTEL) Intelligence subcommittee of the JSC KCMG Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George NIO Northern Ireland Office OC Officer Commanding in the British Army; (used also by some of the paramilitary organisations) ODCs ‘Ordinary decent criminals’ (i.e. not paramilitaries) PIRA Provisional Irish Republican Army (a title often abbreviated to ‘IRA’, or to ‘the ‘RA’ PPE Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Oxbridge degree course 11 PUS Permanent Undersecretary of State, the most senior civil servant in any department; he/she is addressed as such. RHC Red Hand Commandos, a Loyalist paramilitary organisation RPG Rocket-propelled grenade RUC Royal Ulster Constabulary SAS Special Air Services SB Special Branch (of RUC) SoS (NI) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He /she is addressed as such TECHNITEL Intelligence acquired through technical devices UDA Ulster Defence Association, a Loyalist organisation which was originally legal, but later banned UDR Ulster Defence Regiment (of the British Army) UFF Ulster Freedom Fighters, an offshoot of the UDA and banned organisation UVF Ulster Volunteer Force, a Loyalist paramilitary organisation WBG West Belfast Growth A government – sponsored organisation aimed at improving employment opportunities in the area 12 GLOSSARY Albornoz: Spanish for bathrobe An Phoblacht: Irish for ‘The Republic’, a publication sympathetic to the ‘armed struggle’ Ard fheisanna: annual conferences of Sinn Fein Balneario: Spanish for thermal spa Bateau-mouche: tourist pleasure boat on the Seine Billy Sanderson: name deliberately distorted by Loyalists, of IRA hunger striker, Bobby Sands Brick: a small police foot patrol, guarded by soldiers Cisteoir: Irish for ‘treasurer’ Ceili: Irish party with music Claudia: Gunrunning ship arrested by the Irish navy in 1973 Garda Siochana: Irish for ‘Civic Guard’, the Republic’s police force Green-booked: IRA slang for ‘sworn in’. Hallion: Ulster Scots dialect word for ‘scamp, scoundrel’ Maze: Prison (formerly called ‘Long Kesh’) in which most paramilitary prisoners were held Mozo: Spanish for ‘porter / bell hop’ Oglaigh na hEireann: Irish for ‘Irish Army’, the self-appointed name of the IRA PANORAMA: Computerised databank used by the security forces to build up information on suspects Ruby Murray: Belfast-born singer. Ulster slang rhymes her name with ‘curry’ Shebeen: An illegal drinking den Sunningdale: British Government administrative complex near London, where a failed power-sharing agreement was signed between NI political parties in 1973 Taoiseach: Irish Prime Minister Teague: Pejorative nickname for a ‘nationalist / Roman Catholic’ Tiocfaidh ar lá: Irish for ‘Our day will come’, a slogan of the IRA 13 VELLUM: A surveillance programme based on the bugging of suspects’ vehicles Woodbine: a brand of cheap cigarettes 14 Chapter 1 The sphincter-slackening moment of decision could be delayed no longer. This bomb was ‘old’ and Major Tomkins knew it could explode within minutes, perhaps seconds. He had already worked on it for well over an hour, huddled in a corner of the Ford Transit van, in which the business end of the device, a mass of wires and soldering, had been wedged against the panel which divided the cargo area from the driver’s cab. There was no way ‘Robbie the Robot’ could be used to winkle this bomb out. Each bomb was now more difficult to deal with than its predecessor; the war of wits between bomb designer and bomb disposal officer had become an ever more lethal struggle. Tomkins’ temples throbbed from the effort of working in an almost upside-down position, but the sustained adrenaline flow through his body deadened the pain in his limbs. He had at once recognized in the layout of the device the signature handiwork of the PIRA bomb-brain he and his colleagues referred to as ‘Colin’ – so called because the first device of this particular signature retrieved intact had been in Colin Glen, a small parkland area of West Belfast. Tomkins had already discovered two tilt switches in the mechanism, which if interfered with would have at once set off the bomb. But had Colin invented a third anti-handling device and hidden it in the jumble of the wiring which had been inserted to cause confusion? And what if the electronic jamming equipment being used by his colleagues from their operational command vehicle down the road to prevent the bomb being detonated by remote control could have been circumvented by some new gadget in PIRA’s armoury? 15 You’re sliding towards defeatism, Tomkins, old man. Pull yourself together. Think positively. He must review the situation one more time, then back his knowledge, experience and judgement against the devious skills of that bastard Colin. As he gently manipulated the wires, he looked for the first time in a long while at the back of his own hands. Not a tremble: he was still ‘Steady Eddy’, the revered head of the squad, with dozens of ‘dismantles’ to his credit, and authorship of an Operational Manual which had become the standard reference work in several armies and police forces around the world. But for how much longer could he lead this sort of life? He noticed, almost with a start, a brown liver spot, half the size of the nail of his little finger, in the middle of his left hand. The first real reminder in his own body, of age and mortality. But look on the bright side. Age would carry him to retirement in less than two years; then the cottage in Cumbria with Valery. That’s if he could keep ahead of Colin. He thought through the wiring layout one last time, and remained convinced that to cut wire ‘K’, as he had christened it in his mind, was to break the link between detonator and explosive charge. ‘I’m going to slice’, he whispered coolly into the mouthpiece of his communications unit, buttoned into the top of his shirt. That was heard not only by his colleagues in the van down the road, but by the crisis team assembled in the operations room at Castlereagh RUC Holding Centre, some five miles away in the east of the city. As he took the wire cutters from his belt and carefully placed them round ‘K’, he received, superimposed on what he was concentrating on, an image of Valery and the girls, sitting in a sunlit meadow, laughing as they enjoyed a picnic.

Load more

  318

Copy Link