IRISH OFFICIALS WERE discussing the existence and activities of the IRA mole codenamed ‘Stakeknife’ years before the double agent was publicly unmasked, and were assessing intelligence of British collusion in the killing of a man who had been wrongly identified as the agent. 

Stakeknife was a high-level spy working for the British government. He worked in the IRA’s notorious “nutting squad”, interrogating suspected informers during the Troubles.

West Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who was alleged to have been Stakeknife, died earlier this year. He had always denied the claims.

In 1987, another west Belfast man, Francisco Notarantonio, was killed in his home by a member of the Ulster Freedom Fighters, who wrongly believed he was the double agent.

Notarantonio had previously been in the IRA, but it was the 1940s version, and in the decades before his death led a normal life as a taxi driver.

It was alleged that loyalist paramilitary Brian Nelson had given loyalist paramilitaries Notarantonio’s name to protect the true identity of Stakeknife, as Nelson himself was secretly working on behalf of the British Army.

He worked as an intelligence chief for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) after being recruited by the British military.

During the Troubles, Nelson helped direct loyalist killers to republican targets. It’s also alleged that he knew of the plot to murder solicitor Pat Finucane and did not inform the British military.

In 1990, Nelson was jailed for 10 years on five counts of conspiracy to murder. He died in 2003.

Scappaticci was widely named as Stakeknife in 2003. He maintained that he was not the double agent right up until his death in April.

An account of a meeting between Notarantonio’s daughter and the Department of Foreign Affairs in April of 2001 has been released to the National Archives as part of this year’s tranche of State Papers. 

The notes detail that a senior British police officer believed Stakeknife played a part in the 1987 murder to protect his own identity. 

Charlotte Notarantonio told Irish officials that Hugh Orde, then-Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, confirmed the existence of Stakeknife in a December 2000 meeting with her family’s lawyer.

Orde had worked on the Stevens report, a series of inquiries into collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and British state forces.

He reportedly confirmed to the family’s lawyer that there was State collusion in Notarantonio’s murder but added that it was not “black and white”.

Charlotte described the killing of her father as “state sponsored execution” of an innocent man. The family, according to the notes, felt their campaign for justice was being “overshadowed” by other high-profile cases.

When Stakeknife was unmasked years later, Charlotte told The Guardian that she had no idea it was Scappaticci, a distant relative who knew her father.

“If Scappaticci has done what people say he’s done, then he’s sick, and he has a lot to answer for. I would feel bitterness towards him on the basis of what’s he’s done to other families, rather than mine, taking away their relatives.”

The notes from Department of Foreign Affairs officials added: “The identity of Steaknife [sic] was not relevant to their search for justice but if necessary, she would be prepared to enter into some unholy alliances to uncover his identity (e.g. raising money abroad among the “British Government’s enemies” to pay loyalists to name ‘Steaknife’).

In general State Papers – official documents from Government departments and the President’s Office – are declassified and released to the public 30 years after the fact. However, some records are released before or after that timeframe for various reasons.

The UK changed its law in 2010 to provide public access to the archival records of government after 20 years. Due to the close shared history of Ireland and the UK, the decision was made to release Irish documents about Anglo-Irish relations and the peace process in Northern Ireland that are over 20 years old.

Earlier this month, prosecutors in Northern Ireland announced that no prosecutions are to be pursued following the latest consideration of files from a major investigation into Stakeknife.

The Public Prosecution Service said it has given thorough and careful consideration to five files concerning 16 individuals reported by Operation Kenova, which probed the activities of the spy.

The individuals included one police officer and six military personnel.

Kenova examined crimes such as murder and torture linked to Stakeknife and the role played by the British security services, including MI5.

The reference number for these State Papers is 2023/153/22 and 2023/155/23