The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern IrelandIn 1991 Sean McPhilemy produced "The Committee, " a sensational documentary for British television that revealed that a group in Northern Ireland - drawn from the Unionist members of the business community, Protestant clergy, the police (RUC), and the British security forces - was systematically colluding with Loyalist terrorists to murder Irish Republicans and other Irish Nationalists. The documentary contained exclusive firsthand testimony of a member of the Loyalist committee responsible for the murders. This source provided a detailed account of how various assassinations had been planned and carried out. The broadcast of "The Committee" resulted in highly publicized legal proceedings in the High Court in London when the British Conservative government tried unsuccessfully to force the program makers to identify their source. Since the broadcast of his documentary, McPhilemy has struggled to protect his reputation in the face of various legal actions against him over the program. Harassed by British authorities and his life threatened, he has brought two libel actions against newspapers in London that sought to discredit him, and thus far has won one of these actions. The Committee gives a full account of the murder conspiracy, the making of the documentary, the subsequent legal proceedings and, even more importantly, additional evidence that substantiates the original allegations. In the meantime, the Committee allegedly continues to operate with impunity - and Loyalist terrorists carry on the killing. |
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Abernethy's Committee allegations Anglo-Irish Agreement Armagh assassination campaign attack Belfast Ben Hamilton Billy Abernethy Billy Wright Box Productions Brian British broadcast Cappagh Catholic Central Co-ordinating Committee Channel 4's claimed collusion Committee members Committee's David Trimble Denis Carville Hamilton High Court hoax Hugh Ross identified investigation involved Jim Sands journalist Judge Clarkson Kerr Kerr's killing King Rat knew Liz Forgan London Lord Woolf Loyalist assassination Loyalist death squads Loyalist paramilitaries Lurgan Martin O'Hagan meeting murder conspiracy murder conspirators murder triangle Northern Ireland organised Patrick Penrose police officers political Portadown programme makers programme's Protestant Quinn recantation Republican revealed Richard Monteith Right Robin Jackson RUC Inner Circle RUC Inner Force RUC officers RUC's Sam Marshall Sands had told Sands's security forces Sinn Féin solicitor Source Special Branch story Sunday Express tape-recorded television tion Trimble truth Ulster Loyalist Ulster Resistance verdict