HUMINT in Northern Ireland
			Mag. Oliver Plauder Abstract for 1st ACIPSS session November 27th 2004 Abstract For more than 150 years a deep routed conflicted has shattered the Republic of Ireland and the northern counties of Ulster. Since 1969 religious, political and cultural rifts have not let the emerald island out of its tight grip. Since the beginning of the conflict British security services and Irish nationalists have been engulfed in a bitter guerilla war, which is dominated by ruthless penetration tactics through human agents and covert spy networks. ”Human Intelligence” (HUMINT) plays an integral part in this conflict and serves as the main method of extracting information from the opponent. Up until now infiltration tactics have been the most employed means of getting information from Irish militants. The dirty war in Northern Ireland is as old as the conflict itself. In this arena both sides struggle for information in order to continue their tactical operations. Like the institutions of the Britsh intelligence service, the IRA has developed an intelligence network to serve their own purposes. For this reason British services use almost the same amount of resources to defend their structures as they use to carry out offensive strategies against the IRA. Especially contemporary history shows that strategies to gather information from the enemy are often connected with high human costs. Human casualties on both sides are very high. The death of spies, informers and innocent victims pave the path of the dirty war. In recent times the question of excessive force of emergency legislation has arisen and is being discussed in several security commission and bureaus. Even the government has to defend itself for civil rights violations and the use of ruthless tactics against members of the Ulster community. Another important factor in this civil war had been the participation of international secret services. In this dimension American and Irish services add their anti-terror expertise and act as further key players. Their task is to prevent foreign help from reaching the IRA in Ulster. Guns, money and all kinds of logistical support have been flowing into the war torn province since 1916. This kind of help was cut off by the international secret services, which led to a further dwindle in IRA structures. The work of intelligence services on the British Isles left the IRA paralysed at the end of the nineties and forced the army council to turn away from the gun to the tactics of the ballot box. Despite any chance of winning independence from the British by violent means, a small but determined force of IRA splinter groups is still active and able to commit attacks. High criminal activity and low intensity terrorism still exist. The possibility of a renewed campaign should not be discarded, but the achievement of Ireland`s unification by violent means seems to be a lost cause. State security and the lack of support of the population on both sides of the border would be overwhelming should the IRA turn to physical force tactics again.		ÜBERSICHT DIE SCHWEIZ IM ZWEITEN WELTKRIEG HUMINT IN NORTHERN IRELAND CONTROL OF INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES DIE UNGARNKRISE 1956