Chapter 15 of the De Silva Report has destroyed the final spook infiltration myth - and tells us why these stories were put into circulation

The author - more than just a Troubled face

Having worked for BBC Northern Ireland from the late 1980s through to 1994 as a journalist and film maker, mostly for the much respected Spotlight programme, I saw certain Troubles related stories begin to appear in the late 1990s that made me sit back, scratch my head and say – that doesn’t sound right, does not match my experience, or is not what I was told by the IRA, loyalists or the security forces.

At first I just shrugged my shoulders and got on with a film making and writing career that had no connection with the Troubles. So for example, I wrote and directed a six part music series for TG4 Abair Amhráin and a series on architecture called Nation Building, both of which were well received. My television series on Ireland’s historical ties with Europe made for RTÉ in the 90s (The Gap In The Mountain) gained for me the great accolade of being awarded the European Journalist of the Year Award in 1997.

All the above is simply to demonstrate that I have not spent my journalistic and film making life obsessing about the Troubles.
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