The Good Listener Podcast John Hadden

My guest this week is ex-b*mb disposal man, Steve Smith. Steve worked as a EOD officer in Belfast during the early 80s and worked to rid the city of IRA & Loyalist b*mbs.

Steve gives us his insight into the various types of explosives used throughout the conflict, the differences between IRA & Loyalist b*mb-makers, how it feels to put on the b*mb-suit & approach an explosive device and the effects that such a job can have on one’s mental health.

Steve tells us about the unique challenges of b*mb-disposal in rural settings vs urban, the physical sensation of being caught in a b*mb blast and much more.

If you would like to help out the show please like, subscribe and share. I plan on doing bigger things with this show including walk through of areas, documentary-type videos and more.. if you would like to help fund these efforts please consider donating on Buy Me a Coffee.
Thanks a million!!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/goodlistenerpodcast

PLEASE SEND ANY & ALL SUGGESTIONS FOR GUESTS & EPISODE TOPICS to thegoodlistenerpodcast@gmail.com


TIMESTAMPS 
00:00 Putting on the “B*MB SUIT”
03:35 Training 
10:00 Psychological aspect 
14:20 The Hurt Locker (film) & mental toll of the job 
17:00 FIRST EXPLOSIVES DISPOSALS 
24:45 B*mb Disposal in RURAL AREAS
27:20 Robots  
30:40 TOUGH JOB
35:10 Dealing with trauma from the job
37:25 IRA calling in car-b*mb 
44:10 Loyalist b*mbs (better or worse b*mb-makers?) 
46:13 TYPES of b*mbs throughout the conflict 
55:10 Remote b*mbs & Mercury tilt 
59:30 Light-activated explosives 
1:00:30 Closest Steve has been to b*mb exploding 
1:07:30 Cutting wires

Graham Cousins grew up protestant in East Belfast and spent his late-teen years and early 20s in the Ulster Defense Association better known as the UDA, a loyalist paramilitary group formed in the early 70s. He has since become close friends with ex-paramilitaries from the other side including my last guest, ex-b*mb-maker Packy McMahon (https://youtu.be/R5XJQrUCeMk?si=zCipaXh0uMIK6P0j)

Graham speaks to us about his mindset during the early 70s, his reasons for joining up, his thoughts on the UDA’s policy of targeting innocent Catholics and how he left the group. 

Graham shared some interesting thoughts/insights into his mentality during the UDA days, the time that RUC officers let him “steal” their weapons, his memories of Ian Paisley, thoughts on a united Ireland and much more

If you would like to help out the show please like, subscribe and share. I plan on doing bigger things with this show including walk through of areas, documentary-type videos and more.. if you would like to help fund these efforts please consider donating on Patreon or Buy My a Coffee.
Thanks a million!!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/goodlistenerpodcast

TIMESTAMPS 
00:00 Intro
6:20 RUC COLLUSION w/ UDA 
10:10 Why join UDA not UVF 
15:05 How were catholic families intimidated out ?
16:55 How did graham feel about his UDA activities at the time?
18:00 Does Graham identify as British ?
21:45 Ian Paisley 
27:15 How did he view the UVF ?
29:10 Any respect for the IRA ?
31:25 Would Graham have known the main hitmen in the UDA ? 
35:45 Women in the UDA
37:50 Dual membership UDA/UDR 
39:35 Living in England

Patrick “Packy” McMahon is a former provisional IRA bomb maker who was jailed after being caught in the act of manufacturing a 1,500 LB bomb.

Packy tells us about growing up as the conflict raged and how his life-long battle with British soldiers began.

We spoke about the in and outs of how the IRA manufactured its bombs/explosive devices from beginning to end, the materials used, how Packy avoided being blown up by his own work and the logistics of an IRA bombing operation.

Packy shared stories about his time in Long Kesh, how he got caught, Mi5 attempting to recruit him and much more

If you would like to help out the show please like, subscribe and share. I plan on doing bigger things with this show including walk through of areas, documentary-type videos and more.. if you would like to help fund these efforts please consider donating on Buy My a Coffee. (link below)
Thanks a million!!

https://buymeacoffee.com/goodlistenerpodcast

00:00 Intro
4:20 Joining junior-wing of the IRA
07:35 BECOMING A B*MB MAKER
16:05 What type of b*mbs did Packy make?
26:15 Ever get “bitten by his own work” ?
27:10 What separates good b*mb-maker from a bad one ?
28:45 Mi5 attempt to recruit Packy
31:15 MAKING A B*MB
37:10 Shooting at British solider w/ a sniper rifle
38:35 Would you have known the loyalists?
41:05 B*mb-making II
47:55 CAUGHT MAKING B*MB & ARRESTED due to INFORMANT
1:01:55 Getting out of Long Kesh & life after the IRA
ANY  & ALL SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE GUESTS, TOPICS, DIFFERENT FORMS OF CONTENT ETC ARE ALWAYS WELCOME.. any theme or force within the conflict you'd like me to explore, any important people from the time, authors I haven't spoke to etc
PLEASE DROP A COMMENT ON SPOTIFY (I can't reply to comments left on Spotify but leave your email address and I can get back to you) OR SEND ME AN EMAIL 
(thegoodlistenerpodcast@gmail.com) 
Thanks very much to everyone who has helped out so far!!!

Ian Hurst, better known to some as “Martin Ingram” was a member of the Force Research Unit, an intel gathering and spy-handling British security forces group and spent time as a handler in Derry during which time he worked with Frank Hegarty.

Ian is best known for co-authoring the book ’Stakeknife” which exposed the exploits of one of the North’s most notorious informants, Freddie Scappittici aka Agent Stakeknife.
Ina tells us about his time in the FRU, what goes into recruiting and running an agent, his thoughts on whether Martin McGuinness or Gerry Adam were informants, his many thoughts on the recently published Operation Kenova and much more.

Ian, at various stages in the episode, discusses agents Frank Hegarty, Willie Carlin, Brian Nelson and of course agent Stakeknife.

TIMESTAMPS 
00:00 Was Martin McGuinness an informant??
13:00 JOINING THE FORCE RESEARCH UNIT
43:15 Did FRU operate both sides of the border? 
48:00 Was Ian ever shot at ? 
53:00 Work as an FRU handler 
57:30 Thoughts on Operation Kenova 
1:28:40 HOW handlers met w/ informants/agents 
1:39:20 Story about IRA man drove into the FRU offices 
1:41:10 Did the IRA ever have info on IAN ?? (Ian potentially has his life saved by an IRA man’s wife)
1:46:30 Any FRU killed ?
1:49:20 HOW DID FRU RECRUIT AGENTS/INFORMERS ?
2:12:05 HOW WAS SCAP (STAKEKNIFE) RECRUITED ?? WAS HE A “WALK-IN”?? & More thoughts on Operation Kenova 
2:32:55 When agents are suspected by IRA
2:36:40 ’Spy-masters dilemmas” (Frank Hegarty’s case) 
2:46:50 Psychology of handling an agent 
2:52:00 Killing Rage (book by Eamonn Collins)
2:59:55 More thoughts on Operation Kenova 
3:09:15 Was Gerry Adams an informer?

*** PREVIEW CLIP*** (I usually don't do this but to fill the void this week here's a snippet from the full episode which will be available on YouTube this week and on podcast platforms next Monday)

In a clip from our upcoming 3 + hour interview, ex-FRU handler Ian Hurst (Martin Ingram) gives his take on how he thinks the infamous "Agent Stakeknife" was recruited by British security services.. 

He also shares his thoughts on the recently published Operation Kenova.

FULL EPISODE COMING SOON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjuLvoOn9Ns&t=123s

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/goodlistenerpodcast

For this episode I spoke with author Henry Hemming about his most recent book “Four Shots in the Night”, an excellently written true-story of a British army agent within the IRA named Frank Hegarty.

Henry talks to us about the army unit that recruited and ran Hegarty, the now infamous FRU (force research unit) and their unique approach to running agents, how princess Diana was nearly blown up by the IRA and the role that Gaddafi played in arming the IRA.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 How did so many informants get recruited by The British security forces
9:55 Who were the FRU (Force Research Unit)
19:30 Willie Carlin & Denis Donaldson
24:45 Ian Hurst’s involvement
30:20 IRA NEARLY BLOW-UP PRINCESS DIANA
35:30 Spy-master’s dilemma
41:15 Gaddafi’s involvement
46:35 Plans for tv series or movie ??

BUY THE BOOK: https://geni.us/FOURSHOTS