Recent books by former military intelligence agents in Northern Ireland give some insight into the world of espionage and secret surveillance in the North.
Nicholas Davies's book, Ten-Thirty-Three, is one of two accounts of the activities of the British army's undercover agent-handling unit known as the Force Reconnaissance Unit (FRU).
British military intelligence, along with the RUC Special Branch, are the main intelligence-gathering agencies used by the British authorities in the North. There is never any official comment about their existence or activities.
The military and the Special Branch work closely with the domestic British intelligence agency, MI5. Also known as "Box" (a nickname from the days when its only address was a postbox in London), MI5 supplies technical support for both the police and military in the form of surveillance equipment and other specialised equipment.
There has been speculation du ring the week that MI5 was responsible for planting the tracking and listening device in Mr Adams's car. There is further speculation that the agents behind the planting came from British army headquarters, at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn. There are other barracks from where MI5 could operate, including the Palace Barracks in Holywood, close to Stormont. In the 1970s and 1980s it was believed that many surveillance operations were mounted from a base inside Belfast Harbour. It is understood this base closed down some time ago.
Outside Belfast, intelligence operations are centred on Armagh and Derry. The McMahon Road Barracks in Portadown and Drumadd Barracks in Armagh were busy centres for intelligence gatherers who were charged with infiltrating Provisional IRA operations in south Armagh. Bugging devices and hidden cameras were frequently uncovered by the IRA's counter-intelligence units during the 1980s and 1990s in south Armagh.
The main intelligence tool in the North, however, was the RUC's Special Branch, which controlled a large number of informants, many acting as agents within terrorist organisations. The device found in Mr Adams's car is described as "old generation" by intelligence sources. It employs a microphone hidden in the padded material in the roof of the car to listen to conversations, and a geo-positional satellite (GPS) to tell where the car had been. GPS equipment can be bought over the counter from electronics shops for use in yachts.
The GPS device, which is separate from the listening device, sends out a pulse signal which could be every 10 seconds or minute or 20 minutes. This could have given an accurate map of the car's journeys.
The listening device is said by industry sources to incorporate a straightforward microphone and transmitter which would broadcast a signal to a receiver. The device was built into the structure of the car, which means that the people responsible for planting it were able to have access to the vehicle for a period of at least several hours. It was not clear yesterday how such access was possible. Although such electronic devices are used extensively in the North, it is generally accepted by security sources that the most valuable source of intelligence information has come from informants or agents.
Since the 1970s, the British army set out to emulate the Special Branch system of recruiting informants and set up the Force Reconnaissance Unit for this purpose. After years of infighting between the intelligence agencies in the 1970s, the British government sent a former MI5 director, Maurice Oldfield, to reorganise the agencies.
As a result of his work, the directors of three agencies were brought together in a joint committee known as the Tasking Co-ordinating Group (TCG). The intelligence-gathering agencies - MI5, the army and the RUC - pass their information through the MI5 station in Northern Ireland, known as Joint Irish Section (JIS). Information and analysis from JIS is passed to the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), made up of senior civil servants and intelligence officials, in London. The JIC is effectively a Cabinet subcommittee, handling all security issues affecting the British government.
It is understood that since the mid-1980s, when Mrs Thatcher began taking a keen interest in Northern Ireland affairs, the JIC has had an important function in determining policy on Northern Ireland.
A similar intelligence structure exists in the Republic. Here, the Garda Siochana have primacy in intelligence gathering, through the Special Detective Unit, (also known as the Special Branch) and the National Surveillance Unit (NSU). In the past two years these two units have been successful in tracking the activities of dissident republicans.
Information from these agencies passes through the Crime and Security Branch at Garda Headquarters, and reaches the Government through the Northern Ireland Committee, which is run by senior officials from the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs, and from the Taoiseach's Office.
