Deception and lies : the hidden history of the arms crisis

In May of 1970, two government ministers were dismissed from Cabinet for allegedly purchasing guns for the IRA.

The Taoiseach Jack Lynch disavowed any knowledge of the plot.

Few believed him. Charles Haughey, Minister for Finance, a captain in Irish military intelligence along with two others were put on trial.

All were acquitted. Haughey refused to talk about the crisis for the rest of his life.

Fianna Fail endured decades of splits, turmoil and leadership heaves.

Until now, no one has revealed the pivotal role of an IRA informer in the affair.

The part he played became the best-kept State secret of the last half-century.

The book also reveals a dirty tricks campaign by Britain’s Foreign Office to conceal the ancillary role of a British agent called Capt.

Markham-Randall in the murder of Garda Richard Fallon on the eve of the eruption of the Arms Crisis.