Taoiseach names Stakeknife in Irish parliament

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has named the army agent known as Stakeknife, Freddie Scappaticci, in the Dáil (Irish parliament).

Martin named the west Belfast man, who died in 2023, during a Dáil debate on the report of Operation Kenova.

The final report of an investigation into his crimes, which cost £47.5m, was published last year but its authors could not secure government permission to name Stakeknife.

Scappaticci was alleged to have been the most high-ranking British agent within the Provisional IRA, who was given the code-name Stakeknife by the army.

Martin told the Dáil his identity is "clear to everybody here".

"I have previously stated that the agent should be officially named by the UK government," he said.

"Particularly because of his close relationship with those who like to refer to themselves as the republican movement, it is widely known that Stakeknife was Freddie Scappaticci."

He said the agent was recruited by the British Army and worked with it between the late 1970s and 1990s.

Scappaticci was a "prized informant and during this period, the British Army dedicated a 24-hour phone line within its Intelligence Section to his calls".

Martin said the agent became implicated in 14 murders and the abductions of 15 individuals in crimes committed "for and with" the Provisional IRA.

"No amount of aggressive revisionist history from its supporters will ever erase their crimes against their own community," he said.

Martin said it is "widely accepted" that the Provisional IRA were "responsible for over 1,700 deaths in Northern Ireland. They were a scourge on all communities, including those communities they falsely claimed to protect."

Martin also called on Sinn Féin to apologise for "the activities of the Provisional IRA as documented in this report".

"It's long past time for that apology and renunciation of what happened, to occur," he said.

Responding to the Taoiseach, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald opened her remarks with an apology.

"To all those who have suffered such grievous loss, I am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict and for the hurt and loss endured, without exception.

"Those words reflect a genuine sense of sorrow and regret for everyone who was hurt and harmed during those years of violence. By that I mean civilians, combatants and families whose lives were forever changed."

McDonald said "no debate, no report and no political process" will ever fully address that "human cost".

She said findings from the Kenova report are "stark and deeply disturbing".

McDonald said collusion was "not an aberration but defining feature of British state policy during the conflict".

She said "all families" are entitled to truth and justice.

She also called on the Irish government to consider a "full public inquiry" into this "British State activity in this jurisdiction" as well as the Dublin Monaghan bombings and "other killings of Irish citizens".

She said the UK Legacy Act is "designed to close down truth" and not deliver it.

"The message is unmistakable - British state actors will not be pursued regardless of the dead. That is not the rule of law. That is impunity."

The Sinn Féin leader said the question now is what will the Irish government accept as the controversial Legacy Act is finalised by the UK government.

A UK Government spokesperson said:"The Government is not yet in a position to formally respond to the request by Operation Kenova to name Stakeknife as there remains ongoing litigation, and consideration of the recent judgement in the Thompson Supreme Court case.

"The Secretary of State has committed to updating Parliament on the matter as soon as he is able to."