‘You will be responsible to the GOC.’ Stovepiping and the problem of divergent intelligence gathering networks in Northern Ireland, 1969-1975.

From the beginning of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, two different strands of British intelligence were developed in Northern Ireland that failed to effectively cooperate or coordinate their efforts with one another. Though the JIC, the Office of the UK Representative and later the Northern Ireland Office were all aware of (and often opposed) the lack of singular control over intelligence in the province, they were unable to wrest control of security intelligence from the hands of the Army and Special Branch. This problem, which emerged as a result of both the developing nature of the deployment in the early 1970s and from the fear of alienating RUC Special Branch meant that a Security-Forces-controlled intelligence ‘stovepipe’ emerged that exclusively served the purpose of enforcing law and order rather than aiding in the UK government’s wider political strategies. Records from the UK National Archives show that at times this stovepipe operated without reference (and at times in opposition) to the political initiatives also being tried by the UK government in the province.