Podcast 2: General Frank Kitson – War Hero or Director of Terrorism?

In the second of the Paper Trail Pro Podcasts, author Ciarán MacAirt discusses the legacy of General Frank Kitson. General Frank Kitson (right) is a renowned British Army military strategist and counter-insurgency expert. His books include Gangs and Counter-Gangs and Low Intensity Operations: Subversion, Insurgency and Peacekeeping. Kitson was last deployed to the north of […]

Podcast 2: General Frank Kitson – War Hero or Director of Terrorism? Read More »

Podcast 1: World Wars and Local Memories

Podcast / By Ciarán MacAirt

In the first of the Paper Trail Pro Podcasts, author Ciarán MacAirt discusses World Wars and Local Memories. This personal journey finds him trudging from the killing fields of World War 1 to the back-streets of Belfast where death-squads roamed. He discusses his work with the McGurk’s Bar campaign and his family’s service in British

Podcast 1: World Wars and Local Memories Read More »

Shoot-To-Kill: Vol. Daniel McAreavey

Archive Find, Blog, Media, Research / By Ciarán MacAirt

British military archives discovered by the charity, Paper Trail, prove that IRA Volunteer, Daniel McAreavey, was killed in a planned ambush and not shot by an accidental British Army patrol. Vol. Daniel McAreavey was shot and killed by the British Army in disputed circumstances in the Lower Falls area on 6th October 1972 during an

Shoot-To-Kill: Vol. Daniel McAreavey Read More »

Kelly’s Bar Cover-Up Exposed After 45 Years

Blog, Media, Research / By Ciarán MacAirt

The 45th anniversary of the Kelly’s Bar attack and cover-up just passed. A startling archive find from British military archives proves that a member of the Parachute Regiment alerted his superiors to the names of two Loyalist suspects involved in the bombing of Kelly’s Bar. At the time, the British Security Forces and government blamed

Kelly’s Bar Cover-Up Exposed After 45 Years Read More »

Historic Legal Win for the Family of Jean Smyth-Campbell

Uncategorized / By Ciarán MacAirt

The family of murdered mother, Jean Smyth-Campbell, won an historic legal battle against the Police Service of Northern Ireland on Friday (3rd March 2017). The application for Judicial Review centred on: The failed Historical Enquiries Team’s (HET) review of the murder of Jean Smyth-Campbell and its review of other Military Reaction Force (MRF) killings The

Historic Legal Win for the Family of Jean Smyth-Campbell Read More »

Oscar Wilde and History

Blog, Quotes / By Ciarán MacAirt

Oscar Wilde and History Read More »

Paper-Trailers: Supporting Research

Blog, Research / By Ciarán MacAirt

Last year we completed research into the dire need that victims and survivors have for truth and acknowledgement. This research became the foundation of Paper-Trailers, funded by the Executive Office’s Good Relations Fund and managed by Paper Trail. After individual meetings and interviews with key stakeholders, we canvassed the anonymous views of 109 individuals using

Paper-Trailers: Supporting Research Read More »

Kelly’s Bar Atrocity: Foreknowledge and Preventability

Blog, Archive Find, Media, Research / By Ciarán MacAirt

British Prime Minister Files prove that the British army expected the bomb car and could have prevented attack on Kelly’s Bar on 13th May 1972. Secret files – one signed by the British Prime Minister Edward Heath – prove that the British officer in charge of an observation post overlooking Kelly’s Bar was “warned to

Kelly’s Bar Atrocity: Foreknowledge and Preventability Read More »

The Anniversary of the Death of Bobby Sands

Archive Find, Blog, Media / By Ciarán MacAirt

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands who was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army. He died after 66 days on hunger strike, protesting within the British prison system for status as a Republican prisoner of war and not a criminal. He had been elected as a Member of the British

The Anniversary of the Death of Bobby Sands Read More »

The Killing of 11-Year-Old Francis Rowntree

Archive Find, Blog, Media, Research / By Ciarán MacAirt

There have been many disturbing facts at this week’s inquest into the killing of Francis Rowntree by a British soldier, and not only because he was an innocent 11-year-old child and his family are only getting this semblance of justice 44 years later. Francis was shot in the face/head with a rubber bullet fired from

The Killing of 11-Year-Old Francis Rowntree Read More »