The Informer- By Sean O’Callaghan

This booked sparked my interest after watching a documentary about Sean on BBC four. I had seen him on the news in Northern Ireland and in a couple of Sunday papers, all I really new about him was that he was an Ex republican terrorist who had grown sickened with the ‘window dress tribalism of the republican movement’. My own ignorance of the character was that I assumed that he was just some minor operator.

Sean was an idealist and a Marxist and joined the IRA to bring about a socialist republic on the island of Ireland . He chronicles his life from his early memories of his fathers membership of the IRA and eventually his joining the organisation in his mid teens and an almost meteoric rise to become operational commander of a large part of the IRA’s southern command, the decision he took to become an informer and how he has tried to make amends by damaging the IRA as much as possible to absolve his guilt

He talks candidly about his involvement in the murder of Eva Martin in a mortar attack on an army base and his role as a gun man in the cold blooded murder of a special branch officer. And the consequences of these actions and how it began on a road to self doubt and a distrust for the motives of the IRA. Interestingly this book is not full action. O’Callaghan was not a frontline operative (or as he prefers to call the Majority of the ASU as a cannon fodder) although the murders he committed propelled him up the ranks and allowed him a role behind the scenes and training and this respect it allows to understand how the IRA seemed at the time to get away with things with impunity

Many of the major events of the troubles are catalogued here and his operational involvement with them, he talks openly about the theft of Shergar and how it shot with in matter of days of it’s kidnap, the plot that he was directly involved with to kill the prince and princess of Wales at a Duran Duran concert and the internal workings of a mainland units. (such as the Harrod's bombing and Hyde park ).

However by the time many of these ‘operations‘ had taken place, Sean was disgusted by the actions of the IRA, However Sean was haunted by the murders he had been directly and indirectly involved with, and decided to become an informer, putting himself and his family at great risk.

The moment i he realises that he has had enough is when one of his comrades gloats at the death of a Wren and says that he hopes she was pregnant so they could have got two for the price of one.

This book was met with much derision from the republican movement because he talks openly about the Sinn feins leader ship involvement with the IRA (Sean should know he was on the army council and a councillor for Sinn Fein) but if nothing else it is worth a read because he questions the infallible republican movement

An insightful and often depressing read, written by a man who has struggled with his inner demons, to try and bring about peace and change in Ireland at great personal risk to himself and his family.

A definite purchase