{"id":292667,"date":"2026-02-11T16:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292667\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:38:10","slug":"taoiseach-names-freddie-scappaticci-in-the-dail-as-former-british-agent-stakeknife-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292667\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach names Freddie Scappaticci in the D\u00e1il as former British agent Stakeknife \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has named the former British agent Stakeknife as Freddie Scappaticci<\/a> in the D\u00e1il on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Martin said the identity of Stakeknife was \u201cclear to everybody here\u201d and that he should be officially named by the British government, particularly because of his close relationship \u201cwith those who like to refer to themselves as the republican movement\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is widely known that Stakeknife was Freddie Scappaticci,\u201d he told the chamber on Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe should have an apology from Sinn F\u00e9in in respect of the activities of the Provisional IRA as documented in this report. It is long past time for that apology and renunciation of what happened to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scappaticci was 77 when he died in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il leader was speaking during statements on the report of Operation Kenova<\/a>, an investigation into potential criminal offences committed by the agent known as Stakeknife. <\/p>\n

Martin outlined how Scappaticci was recruited by the British army and was a \u201cprized informant\u201d between the late 1970s and 1990s. <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this period, the British army dedicated a 24-hour phone line within its intelligence section to his calls,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this time, Stakeknife was implicated in what were by any measure, grotesque and serious crimes committed for and with the provisional IRA, and this included 14 murders and the abductions of 15 individuals. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0UK government should formally name Stakeknife, Westminster committee urgesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe details uncovered by the investigation are harrowing, pointing towards shocking acts by the Provisional IRA, including torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and murder, to quote from the Kenova report itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Operation Kenova, an investigation that examined the activities of Stakeknife, who has been linked to at least 14 murders and 15 abductions, concluded that more lives were probably lost than saved<\/a> through the operation of the agent.<\/p>\n

\"\"The brutal crimes of IRA double agent Freddie Scappaticci <\/p>\n

Podcast: Hosted by Bernice Harrison. Guests Gerry Moriarty and Kevin Winters. This episode was originally published in April 2023.<\/p>\n

However, it was unable to confirm Stakeknife\u2019s identity in its final report in December after the UK government<\/a> refused its authorisation to do so.<\/p>\n

Martin said the Kenova investigation extensively documented the \u201cfact that MI5 had sight of Stakeknife\u2019s role within the Provisional IRA\u201d and its internal security unit, and were \u201cinvolved from the outset in briefing Stakeknife through the force research unit of the British army\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn setting out the activities of Stakeknife, it sheds essential light on the harrowing pain and loss caused to individuals, to their families, and through the systematic exercise of terror, to communities at large by the Provisional IRA,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows the complicity of British state forces in allowing this to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said many of the details of the Operation Kenova report were \u201cuncomfortable\u201d and relate to \u201ca terrible period in the history of our island\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my position, the position of my party and the position of the Government as a whole is that the past must not be hidden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"FredFred Scappaticci pictured in Belfast in 2003 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt must not be allowed to be a forum where different groups present not just their own narrative on the past, but also their own set of facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking at the outset of her statement, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald said: \u201cI wish to say this clearly and directly: to all those that suffered such grievous loss, I am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict and for the hurt and loss endured without exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose words reflect a genuine sense of sorrow and regret for everyone who was hurt and harmed during those years of violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy that I mean civilians, combatants and families whose lives were forever changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald said the findings of the Kenova report were \u201cstark and deeply disturbing\u201d and that \u201ca senior British agent was involved in killings\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Stakeknife: The inside story of IRA double agent Freddie ScappaticciOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe British state knew and it protected him, and it allowed violence to continue in order to preserve operational advantage.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Dublin Central TD said the report confirmed that \u201ccollusion was not an aberration but a defining feature of British state policy during the conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said Scappatici was a \u201cserial killer\u201d who was protected to the same level as the British Royal Family in some instances. <\/p>\n

Bacik said she welcomed the fact \u201cthat we\u2019re naming him here in this House\u201d and speaking openly about his activities. She said to this day, neither the \u201cIRA nor the Republican leadership\u201d have issued an apology to Scappaticci\u2019s victims. <\/p>\n

The Dublin Bay South TD said she backed a call by the Taoiseach for Sinn F\u00e9in to make an apology. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know that he [Stakeknife] killed, abducted, tortured and maimed. He was, in effect, a serial killer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a serial killer protected and even paid by the British state to terrorise and murder his own community – all done under the direction of the self-appointed, so-called Army Council of the Provisional IRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the D\u00e1il remarks, a UK government spokesman described the behaviour outlined in Operation Kenova\u2019s final report as \u201cdeeply disturbing\u201d and said it \u201cshould not have happened\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government is not yet in a position to formally respond to the request by Operation Kenova to name Stakeknife as there remains ongoing litigation, and consideration of the recent judgment in the Thompson Supreme Court case,\u201d referring to a case in which the UK\u2019s highest court upheld a UK government appeal against a decision to release sensitive security information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Secretary of State has committed to updating Parliament on the matter as soon as he is able to,\u201d the spokesman added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has named the former British agent Stakeknife as Freddie Scappaticci in the D\u00e1il on Wednesday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[121031,42,1843,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-292667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-freddie-scappaticci","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-micheal-martin","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}