The Indo Daily: The ‘Nutting Squad’ – how an IRA unit became riddled with double agents
Freddie Scappaticci
This week, IRA member Paddy ‘PM’ Monaghan was reported as a British agent, making him the third senior member of the IRA's notorious 'Nutting Squad' to be suspected of being a double agent. Its top tier also included the likes of Freddie Scappaticci and leader, John Joe Magee, who are both now believed to have been spies themselves.
It is believed that Monaghan, was responsible for kidnapping IRA men who were accused, sometimes falsely, of being informants. The squad was ruthless when it came to outing informers. The men were abducted by the unit, interrogated and on occasion, murdered.
How did this group, who had access to some of the IRA's most guarded secrets become riddled with double agents?
Presenter Kevin Doyle is joined by Allison Morris, columnist with the Belfast Telegraph, to look at the brutality of the 'Nutting Squad' and whether its senior ranks were loyal to the IRA or to the British.