[Sinn]s Of The Father

The man who acted as Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams' personal driver has been exposed as a spy working for the British government.

Roy McShane, 58, worked within the political organization for more than 20 years. During this time, he drove Adams and other senior party officials to and from secret meetings with the IRA at Castle Buildings. These intense negotiations eventually led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 10 years ago, and subsequent disarming of the IRA in 2005.

McShane was reporting to handlers in England's MI5 during this period, the domestic British spy agency which is nowhere as cool or sexy as James Bond would have you believe. As of Friday, the spineless coward had said goodbye to his family before leaving his west Belfast home and being taken into protective custody, presumably by the police.

This must be irritating for Gerry Adams, as this now makes two double-agents that have infiltrated the (mostly Catholic)103 year-old Republican political party. Two years ago, 56 year-old Denis Donaldson, a close administrative aide to Adams was also exposed as secretly working for MI5. In April 2006, he was found shot dead inside his vacation home in Donegal. Asked about the possibility of McShane meeting a similar fate, Alex Maskey, of Sinn Fein replied: "Let’s face it, the war is over. I see him under no threat at all from republicans.” When asked the same question, Adams said that Mr McShane "certainly is under no threat from republicans, whether he is under any threat from the people who have him is a question for them". Lets hope McShane finds the safety that was most likely promised him by the oh-so-trustworthy British crown. They have a long history of rewarding their friends, and of course by "rewarding" I mean padding their wallets with scones and clotted cream and then totally killing them.

Let's face it folks, you can't shit the toilet maker. It's obvious this guy has poured his last Guinness. Whether it comes at the hands of the men he betrayed is yet to be determined. Even if his new friends at the spy agency of the most notorious, murderous evil empire in history (no, not us, they've been doing it much longer)- who now have no need for him or his family are the ones who do him in, they'll certainly make it look like it was an "act of terror" by an Irish resistance group. All I know is that at this moment, somewhere in the world, a muddy ditch is being dug at this moment with a pillow inside for this guy to take a nap in. Point is, the struggle that has been fairly calm the last few years is being edged, slowly but surely, back into action. They just couldn't leave it alone, the Brits. They obviously weren't aware the 'war' was over. They had to employ new spies in an effort to continue a dominance over a people, land and culture.

I won't let any personal bias I may have affect my reporting though. I'm obviously not Irish, but I do have an odd affinity for the Emerald Isle and it's people (mostly the ladies). It is the duty of any responsible journalist to remain impartial, but I'm not up for a Pulitzer (at least not this year), so fuck off.
There is another (yet maybe not with as much historical significance) - outrage being played out in the land of the leprechaun. Of course I'm referring to the recent proposal making it's way through the upper chamber Senate of the Irish government. It suggests that Ireland stop driving on the left side of the road in an effort to reduce car accidents involving foreign drivers. I'm left-handed, and the last time I was in Ireland, one of the big selling points (other than the drinking thing), was the comfort I felt when driving on what felt like the more "natural" side of the road for me. My dominant (left) hand had more comfortable access to the gear shift, ashtray, and any unsuspecting passenger's right boob. I call out to all politicians of Hibernia, "Strike down this bill!".