The Routledge Companion to UK Counter-Terrorism

Andrew Staniforth, Fraser Sampson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415685856
• eBook ISBN: 9781136254291
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

The United Kingdom has long been an island under siege from terrorists who believe they can advance their aims through acts of violence. Protecting the public from the excesses of extremism remains the primary responsibility of government. For over a century Special Branch, MI5 and MI6 have prevented terrorist atrocities and have pursued those who wish to destroy the United Kingdom's free and democratic way of life. Yet, despite developing one of the world's most sophisticated security architectures, successful terrorist attacks have occurred with alarming regularity.

For the very first time, this new volume explores the evolution of counter-terrorism practice in the United Kingdom, brought to life with dramatic case studies and personal insider accounts provided by leading policy makers, prosecutors and counter-terrorism practitioners who openly reveal the challenges and operational reality of countering contemporary terrorist threats. From the troubles in Northern Ireland to the al Qa'ida inspired genre of international terrorism, this volume plots the trajectory of counter-terrorism policy and practice exploring the events that have served to change the course of civil protection.

This unique title is enriched by leading academic perspectives providing analysis of counter-terrorism responses and identifies lessons to be learned from the past, the present, as well as exploring the terrorist threats of the future to be tackled by the next generation of counter-terrorism practitioners. This accessible and authoritative volume is required reading for all in authority and academia who are concerned with national security, counter-terrorism and the law, as well as those with a vested interest in the preservation of human rights, the protection of civil liberties and democracy itself.

PART I

Defending the realm

1

FIGHTING THE FIANNA

This is not a temporary emergency requiring a momentary remedy, this will last far beyond the term of my life and must be met by a permanent organisation to detect and control it.¹

Home Secretary, Sir William Vernon Harcourt, 1883

On 17 March 1859 the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was established in Dublin by James Stephens, a charismatic Irish republican revolutionary. The IRB were dedicated to ending British rule in Ireland and were part of a resurgence of Irish nationalism during this period in which there was growing support for the ‘Fenian’ movement. The Fenians sought to create a republican Ireland which was independent of the United Kingdom. ‘Fenian’ was a generic title assumed at the time by many Irish republican militants in succession to various such groupings which had existed for around a century. ‘Fianna’ is Gaelic for ‘warrior’, a term that fittingly described the activities of the Fenians in their violent struggle against British rule. The reasons why the rhetoric of Irish republican revolution found so many willing adherents during this period are both obvious and instructive.

The whole of Ireland had been under British rule since the end of the Nine Years War in 1603 which resulted in the continued suppression of the Irish people, serving to create a smouldering contempt for the British. The Great Famine, which occurred between 1845 and 1852, saw the migration of a million Irish people escaping the mass starvation caused by potato blight which devastated crops across Ireland. Thousands of families were also evicted from their homes by landlords, which deepened the hatred within Irish nationalists. The famine was exacerbated by a host of political factors and the British government was pilloried for its failure to avert the human disaster which resulted in the death of a million people. The unforgettable trauma of the famine instilled in Irish minds a firm belief that British misrule was responsible for the country's destitution.² The famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland and its effects permanently changed the country's political, social, economic and cultural landscape. Although the introduction of the Reform Act of 1850 sought to address inequality by broadening the Irish right to vote to every man with property over the value of £12, it still left broad divisions between the English and the Irish with only one in six Irishmen eligible to vote by law, as opposed to one-third of Englishmen. A further aggravating factor for the Irish electorate was that until 1872 votes cast in elections were made public so any tenant who voted against the desires of his landlord could expect to suffer the consequences. Given this context the Fenian movement appeared to represent not so much of a set of complicated political ideals, but more a general attitude of defiance towards social order and the British regime in Ireland at that time.

The IRB, which was initially known as the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, is regarded as being the first popular political movement in Ireland to be both led and supported by the ‘common man’. James Stephens was a good example. Born and raised in Kilkenny and apprenticed to a civil engineer, he obtained a post in a Kilkenny office working on the Limerick and Waterford Railway during 1844. Stephens inherited sympathetic nationalist views from his father who was active in local politics. He was also influenced by the nationalist views of Dr Robert Cane, a former Major of Kilkenny. Stephens continued to develop a nationalist ideology and as young man built connections with like minded individuals in America, especially those within the Fenian Brotherhood, the sister organisation of the IRB in the United States. The IRB was the first Irish movement to draw directly on the sympathy, wealth and military expertise of the Irish American community; it also sought to exploit the opportunity provided by the industrial developments in printing and the wider circulation of the press. At the time of establishing the IRB Stephens hoped that the end of the American Civil War in 1865 would result in the recruitment of willing Irish veterans to lead and fight in a nationalist campaign. During 1863, to raise awareness of the Fenian cause, Stephens established the Irish People newspaper with financial support provided by his American associates. The newspaper's office was established at 12 Parliament Street in Dublin, close to the gates of Dublin Castle (the site of British administration). The British authorities viewed the content of the newspaper as republican propaganda and began to suppress its operations, which led to the arrest of its editors. As part of these arrests Stephens was captured in 1865 in response to information linking him to plans for a nationalist rising in Ireland. It was this action by the British authorities which accelerated a growing sense of deep disaffection among Irish radicals who believed that their freedoms and liberties were being eroded. Stephens was not held for long in British custody; with assistance from prison wardens sympathetic to the Fenian cause he soon escaped, and made his way to France having spent less than two weeks in Richmond Bridewell. With the IRB now well established and thousands of Irishmen recruited to its cause, Stephens continued to plot a republican revolution against British rule in Ireland while exiled in France. While passion and commitment were powerful motivators, such a revolution also needed the effective coordination and mobilisation of the IRB across the whole of Ireland.

Republican revolt

During his exile in France, Stephens was deposed of his leadership of the IRB whereupon his deputy, Thomas J Kelly, became his willing successor. Kelly wasted no time in mounting an ambitious attack on the British authorities and began his preparations for a rebellion by accelerating the recruitment of men keen to fight the British as well as gathering arms and ammunition. Kelly was no stranger to planning military action. Born in Mountebellow, County Galway, Ireland, he had emigrated to America in 1851 where he travelled to New York and joined the National Guard, receiving military training. During the American Civil War Kelly enlisted in the Unionists’ 10th Ohio Infantry, and by the summer of 1861 had risen to the rank of First Sergeant of Company ‘C. Upon leaving the military in 1864 Kelly had gained the rank of Captain. It was this combination of tactical and strategic military expertise that made Kelly an appropriate replacement for Stephens and in 1867, his preparations for rebellion were complete. The revolt had two key parts which included the engagement of British authorities in a sustained campaign of country-wide guerrilla style attacks, set alongside plans for Fenians to infiltrate the Irish Army. The infiltration of the Army was a major factor of the planned success of the rebellion as soldiers sympathetic to the Fenian cause would mutiny by seizing control of the military barracks in Dublin, a key strategic location for commanding Dublin and Ireland. Members of the IRB attempted insurrections in County Kerry in February of 1867 as well as attacks in March in Cork City, Limerick and in Dublin itself. All of the attempted rebellions across Ireland failed, in part as a result of poor coordination and planning and a lack of arms. Unbeknown to the Fenians however, they had themselves been infiltrated by a number of British informers who reported their every move to the Irish Constabulary. As a direct result additional troops had been drafted into Dublin and British defences had been fortified. What was intended to be a swift and forceful insurrection simply fell apart into tatty isolated skirmishes. When the 10,000 Fenians realised their efforts had failed they simply hid their weapons and returned home, but not before the Irish Constabulary had made several hundred arrests.³ Twelve people were killed during the rebellion, eight being Fenians. But the rising in 1867 was not without powerful symbolic significance as James Stephens issued a Proclamation of the Irish Republic stating that:

Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aristocracy, who, treating us as foes, usurped our lands and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches. We appeal to force as a last resort. … Unable to endure any longer the curse of a monarchical government, we aim at founding a Republic based on universal suffrage, which shall secure to all the intrinsic value of their labour.

The soil of Ireland, at present in possession of an oligarchy, belongs to us, the Irish people and to us it must be restored. We declare also in favour of absolute liberty of conscience and the separation of Church and State. We intend no war against the locusts, whether English or Irish, who have eaten the verdure of our fields.⁴

One area of conspicuous success had been the IRB's mobilisation of significant support and its recruitment of men from all walks of Irish life to take up arms against the British. Despite its being a complete military disaster the Fenian rebellion had nevertheless ignited a powerful conflagration and one which would continue to fuel the nationalist cause to the present day. Other events that same year would stir Irish public opinion and fan the flames yet further.

Martyrs and mayhem

In the early hours of 11 September 1867, just six months after the failed Fenian rebellion, Manchester City Police officers arrested two men found loitering in Oak Street in the area of Shudehill. The officers suspected the men of planning to rob a nearby shop. At the time of their arrest, and for some time while detained in custody, Manchester City Police were not aware of the men's identities. They had arrested the leader of the IRB, Thomas Kelly and his Fenian associate, Timothy Deasy. Both men had travelled to Manchester from Dublin to attend a council of the Irish republican centres in England, the republican cause receiving strong support at that time from Manchester's large Irish community. Following enquiries with the Irish Constabulary, Manchester City Police identified the two Fenians detained in custody and an investigation began into their involvement in activities against British authorities. On 18 September 1867, seven days after their arrest, both Kelly and Deasy were being transferred with other prisoners from the Manchester courthouse to Belle Vue prison on Hyde Road, Gorton. Given the profile of Kelly and Deasy, Manchester City Police had surrounded the prisoners’ carriage with twelve mounted officers together with a police officer inside the compartments where both men were handcuffed and securely contained. As the escort passed under a railway arch on Hyde Road, a man ran into the path of the horses and pointed a pistol at the driver of the carriage instructing him to stop. At the same time some forty Fenians surrounded the carriage and seized the horses. The unarmed police officers provided little resistance to the Fenian group who were attempting to force the carriage door. All their attempts failed and so they called upon the police officer inside the carriage to open the door. The officer, Police Sergeant Charles Brett, refused. As a final resort to open the carriage a Fenian placed his revolver at the lock of the carriage and discharged his weapon, blowing out the lock and hitting Sergeant Brett in the head, killing him instantly. Another prisoner inside the carriage grabbed the keys from the officer's body and passed them through a ventilator to the Fenians, who released the prisoners. Despite a reward of £300 being offered for information leading to the arrest of Kelly and Deasy, neither was recaptured by British authorities. However, the manhunt investigation had led to the arrest of twenty-eight men suspected of being in the group that attacked the prison carriage. All of the suspects appeared before a grand jury on 28 October 1867 for pre-trial proceedings, being charged with murder, felony and misdemeanour. It was established by Mr Justice Blackburne and Mr Justice Mellor that a prima facie case was only made out against five of the men for their involvement in the murder of Sergeant Brett and the attack on the prison carriage, an incident referred to locally as the ‘Manchester Outrages’. Following the trial the five men – William Allen, Michael Larkin, Michael O'Brien, Thomas Maguire and Edward O'Meager Condon – were all sentenced to death by hanging, the only punishment that English law allowed at the time for murder. Two men, Maguire and O'Meager Condon, both received reprieves as witness testimonies were shown to be false, but the convictions of Allen, Larkin and O'Brien stood and their execution was planned for 23 November later that year. The case received a great deal of publicity in the UK and overseas, the British authorities being accused of assuming the prisone...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Part I Defending the realm
• Part II A new age of terror
• Part III An island under siege
• Part IV A new approach
• Part V Lessons learned
• Index