'The State is assassinating people.'
These were the chilling words said to have been sent to Tony Blair in 1999 in a damning note bluntly summarising one of the consequences of Britain's decades-long intelligence war in Northern Ireland. State forces had crossed a line, guided by a secret review from 1980 that quietly rewired Britain's war, placing intelligence gathering above the law.
What followed was the creation of a vast, covert agent-running machine that penetrated loyalist and republican organisations to unprecedented depths. Supporters claim the policy saved lives, helping pave the way for the Good Friday Agreement. Critics argue it also licensed murder, subverted justice and corrupted policing beyond repair.
Full of new and important revelations, this meticulously researched book is the inside story of the decades-long struggle to expose that truth - an attritional battle between detectives and lawyers on one side, and a powerful 'securocracy' on the other that was determined to protect its secrets. Focusing on two of the most notorious agents, Brian Nelson and Freddie Scappaticci, it reveals how the State has doggedly fought to control the narrative, silence scrutiny and preserve its legacy.
| ISBN: | 9781785375804 |
| Publication date: | 14th May 2026 |
| Author: | John Ware |
| Publisher: | Merrion Press an imprint of Irish Academic Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 352 pages |
| Genres: |
True crime European history Politics and government |
'The State is assassinating people.'
These were the chilling words said to have been sent to Tony Blair in 1999 in a damning note bluntly summarising one of the consequences of Britain's decades-long intelligence war in Northern Ireland. State forces had crossed a line, guided by a secret review from 1980 that quietly rewired Britain's war, placing intelligence gathering above the law.
What followed was the creation of a vast, covert agent-running machine that penetrated loyalist and republican organisations to unprecedented depths. Supporters claim the policy saved lives, helping pave the way for the Good Friday Agreement. Critics argue it also licensed murder, subverted justice and corrupted policing beyond repair.
Full of new and important revelations, this meticulously researched book is the inside story of the decades-long struggle to expose that truth - an attritional battle between detectives and lawyers on one side, and a powerful 'securocracy' on the other that was determined to protect its secrets. Focusing on two of the most notorious agents, Brian Nelson and Freddie Scappaticci, it reveals how the State has doggedly fought to control the narrative, silence scrutiny and preserve its legacy.
Neither Confirm nor Deny features in the following genres: True crime, European history, Politics and government
Neither Confirm nor Deny is available in Paperback
Neither Confirm nor Deny was written by John Ware and published by Merrion Press an imprint of Irish Academic Press
Neither Confirm nor Deny has 352 pages
£17.09