Dirty Tricks Operation in Northern Ireland

31 January 1990
The Independent - London
Colin Brown Political Correspondent
The Government last night admitted that there had been a "dirty tricks" operation in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, when it announced the reopening of a civil service inquiry into the dismissal of Colin Wallace, a former Army press officer in Ulster.
Labour and Ulster Unionist MPs made demands for the inquiry to be widened to cover the allegations by Mr Wallace that the dirty tricks operation had been directed at Protestants and MPs, and there had been an attempt to destabilise the Wilson Government. Mr Wallace last night said he felt vindicated by the reopening of the inquiry into his dismissal.  Kevin McNamara, the Labour spokesman on Ulster, said: "Now this allegation has been confirmed, who is to say his other allegations are not true as well." However, the Government insisted yesterday that there was no evidence to support Mr Wallace's wider allegations.

The demands for a wider inquiry in the Commons were led by Merlyn Rees, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who ordered the misinformation operation be brought to an end. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Leader of the House, hinted that a government statement might be made in the Commons today. The inquiry will be carried out by David Calcutt QC, the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, who investigated an alleged spy ring in Cyprus.

The inquiry's terms of reference are limited to considering whether or not an injustice was done to Mr Wallace in the way his case was presented to the civil service appeal board on 17 October 1975, and whether compensation should be paid to him. Mr Wallace was forced to resign for leaking a restricted document to a journalist in Northern Ireland on 4 February 1975. The tribunal rejected his claim that he had been authorised to leak information as part of his job.

Last night, Archie Hamilton, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, changed the Government's position when he announced in a Commons written reply that papers had come to light which indicated Mr Wallace's duties included "providing unattributable covert briefings to the Press". He said: "It would appear that he had already been undertaking unattributable briefing activities of this kind, which may have included disinformation."

Mr Hamilton also confirmed that two documents had been found supporting another allegation by Mr Wallace, that he had been involved in a propaganda project, codenamed Clockwork Orange. "It appears that this title was given to a project contemplating the dissemination of an account of the organisation and activities of the Provisional IRA... The documents also state that the project was not cleared."

However, Mr Hamilton said no evidence had been found to support Mr Wallace's other allegations that it had been extended to cover Protestant organisations and politicians. He said the Government stood by the Prime Minister's assurance in May 1987 that stories of a plot to destabilise the Wilson Government were false.

"I should also make it clear that the new information which has come to light does not substantiate Mr Wallace's allegations of a cover-up relating to the Kincora Boys' Hostel in Belfast." Mr Wallace has also claimed that since 1972 he had attempted to expose a homosexual scandal at Kincora.

Mr Hamilton reiterated the Government's invitation for Mr Wallace to pass any further evidence to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, something he has refused to do because he fears action against him under the Official Secrets Act.

Yesterday's development marks a success for the campaign waged by Mr Wallace and a band of supporters for an examination of his allegations, writes David McKittrick. However, the investigation will apparently concentrate on only the circumstances of Mr Wallace's departure from the civil service. It will, therefore, be open to the criticism that it is too narrowly focused and that it will not settle the much wider issues raised by Mr Wallace.

These include allegations that the security forces were surreptitiously involved in a large-scale assassination campaign against Catholics. A 1987 investigation into Mr Wallace's claims by The Independent reported that while working for the Army in Northern Ireland he had used black propaganda techniques to smear political and paramilitary figures. This included making off-the-record allegations that individuals were homosexual, financially corrupt or involved in violent activities. These allegations are the subject of a complaint by Mr Wallace to the Press Council.