April 2004

In April 2003, the Stevens Report provided the first official acknowledgement of collusion between loyalist armed groups and British security forces in the murders of nationalists in Northern Ireland. Yet, as this book demonstrates, such collusion and associated conspiracies have been a central feature of the British response to the conflict in Ireland for more than 30 years. That response, argues the author, amounts to a Holy War, or Jihad, in the name of Protestantism and the British monarchy. That war has been swarthed in secrecy and denial, protected by notions of 'national security' that pervade every corner of the legal system and the political establishment of Britain.

The author is an award-winning investigative journalist. He made the first of many investigative films for the BBC Northern Ireland's current affairs programme, Spotlight, in February 1989, about the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane. Since then he has covered other controversial killings, Royal Ulster Constabulary cover-ups, the burgeoning illicit drugs trade, the role of informers and agents, and the notorious Portadown based 'ratpack'. He has also produced a special investigation into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings for Irish television.

The research for these films is the raw material of his book. Building on his investigations, he presents a detailed, revealing and quite frightening account of many aspects of Britain's 'dirty war' in Ireland, and also provides a unique insight into the dangers and political pressures facing journalists who dare to investigate the unsavoury relationships between the intelligence agencies, politicians, the police, the British Army and loyalism.