Collusion

Collusion is any act, or omission of an act, in which state agents encourage or engage in criminal actions with illegal forces. It can never be justified. Collusion, we believe, prolonged the conflict in Ireland by reducing, and in some cases destroying, public confidence in the law and in state agencies.

Collusion

Collusion has been defined many times. Peter Cory, the Canadian Supreme Court judge defined it in his report into the case of Pat Finucane as follows:

“ …army and police forces must not act collusively by ignoring or turning a blind eye to the wrongful acts of their servants or agents or supplying information to assist them in their wrongful acts or encouraging them to commit wrongful acts” (page 21-22).

The current Police Ombudsman, in his report into the Loughinisland Massacre, defined it as

“a conscious or deliberate act or omission, by means of which police officers intended to assist offenders either in the commission of a crime or in avoiding detection or apprehension”.

The PFC believes collusion is any act, or omission of an act, in which state agents encourage or engage in criminal actions with illegal forces. It goes without saying we believe it can never be justified. Collusion, we believe, prolonged the conflict in Ireland by reducing, and in some cases destroying, public confidence in the law and in state agencies.

Moreover, collusion is a unique crime in that those who collude are also in control of the evidence of their crime. It follows that agencies established to detect and prevent collusion, such as the Office of the Police Ombudsman, should robustly investigate any credible claim of collusion.

Related content

Find out more about Collusion and State Violence at Powerbase

See also https://relativesforjustice.com/ for extensive background on campaigns and updates around collusion.

See also http://www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org/home/ Campaign to support victims and survivors in the Republic-a project of the PFC   

PFC is supporting a number of families involved in Operation Kenova-the Stakeknife investigation - http://www.opkenova.co.uk/

Latest Articles

  • Letter to Tánaiste Micheál Martin from Deirdre McHugh, whose father Mick was murdered by loyalists in 1977

    Below is the letter that was handed to Tánaiste Micheál Martin at a meeting in Dublin on 18th September 2024 by Deirdre McHugh, outlining her concerns regarding the Legacy Act and ICRIR, and clearly state what would meet her family's needs as victims. We are publishing this letter in full with...
  • Widows settle collusion cases against MOD & PSNI

    Two widows, whose husbands were murdered by the UDA in separate incidents in 1976, have accepted substantial settlements in cases brought against the MOD & PSNI. Mary Loughrey, widow of Jim Loughrey, and Marie Newton, widow of John Toland, settled their cases for an undisclosed six figure sum.
  • PRESS STATEMENT in relation to the settlement of the Campbell family Civil Case, Monday 21 November 2022

    There is something wrong with a society that forces the widow and children of Pat Campbell to have to take legal action against elements of that state to get some small level of satisfaction for the pain and hurt that was visited on the family late in the evening of Monday 29 October 1973 by then...
  • BELFAST MURDERS: WHAT ARE POLICE TRYING TO HIDE?

    A new article by Anne Cadwallader for Declassified UK on the murders at Sean Graham's on Belfast's Ormeau Road, and the key question - What is the PSNI trying to hide?
  • Crown V Brian Nelson Sentence of the Court

    5 page sentencing document from the trial of FRU agent Brian Nelson. Given what is now known about Nelson and the extent to which FRU was involved in colluding with the UDA Justice Kelly's remarks on mitigation ring hollow indeed.

Latest Cases

  • Terence McDaid

    1988
    Newington street, Belfast
    Collusion

    29-year-old father-of-two Terence McDaid was watching TV in the living room of his Newington Street home on 10 May 1988 when two UDA gunmen burst in and opened fire. McDaid was shot seven times in the head and chest and died a short time later. His mother was shot  in the leg. His wife, Maura, was lucky to escape uninjured as she tried to fight off one of the gunmen who attempted to shoot her in the head but missed. Terence's two daughters, then eight and six, were also in the house at the time.

  • Miami Showband

    1975
    Buskhill
    Collusion

    The Miami Showband murders occurred in the early hours of 31st July 1975 as the Miami showband was returning home to Dublin following a gig in the Castle Ballroom, Banbridge, Co. Down. They were flagged down at a bogus British military checkpoint at Buskhill on the main road to Newry.

  • McGurk’s Bar

    1971
    McGurks Bar, Belfast
    Collusion

    On Saturday 4th December 1971 the loyalist UVF left a no-warning bomb outside the door of McGurks bar. The bomb ripped through the pub killing fifteen people, including two children.

  • Gerard Slane

    1988
    Belfast
    Collusion

    AT 4.15 on the morning of September 23, 1988, Gerard Slane, a Belfast Roman Catholic, was woken by what sounded like a knocking on his front door. He left his wife and children asleep in their beds and went to investigate. He was confronted by two masked men, who shot him at point-blank range.

  • Seamus Ludlow

    1976
    Dundalk
    Collusion

    Recently the centre was contacted by relatives of Seamus Ludlow, a 47 year old forestry worker from near Dundalk who was found murdered in May 1976 just across the border in the Irish Republic. At the time the family was informed by the Gardai, the police in the Republic, that Seamus had been shot dead by the IRA on suspicion of being an informer.

Declassified documents

  • DEFE 24/822 - Ministry of Defence Letter 7 August 1972

    Ministry of Defence internal letter where allegations of collusion are discussed in relation to UDR arms losses.
  • British Govt Legal Advice on UDA roadblocks

    Orwellian legal advice on UDA roadblocks from 1972 Advice note from Ministry of Home Affairs dated 22 August 1972 (by this date the duties of this Ministry had been taken over by the Northern Ireland Office) which seeks to retrospectively justify UDA roadblocks which were frequent throughout Belfast and elsewhere in the summer of 1972. The advice note states that...
  • Subversion in the UDR and Annex E

    The original intelligence report prepared for the Joint Intelligence Committee and Downing St
  • Diary entry from Attorney General

    A diary of the meeting between J.M Parkin, Head of C2 and HQNI and Attorney General Basil Kelly and additional confirmation that the Attorney General fully understood that HQNI was telling him that he should not prosecute soldiers. In effect the military tail was wagging the legal dog. This meeting took place less than two months before Bloody Sunday
  • Memo of meeting between Attorney General and British Army

    Two pages of a memo (AG 1971 p2 and AG 1971 p3) concerning the visit of a J.M. Parkin, Head of C2 at HQNI (British Army HQ) in the North to the then Attorney General Basil Kelly, a Unionist MP. In reference to any potential prosecutions of soldiers for the murder of civilians Parkin notes,