Books
Books by Ciarán MacAirt
The critically acclaimed The McGurk's Bar Bombing, his latest collection Trope: Essays and Articles, and free investigative reports.
The McGurk's Bar Bombing
4th December 1971. British extremists bombed McGurk's Bar, a family-run pub in North Belfast. The explosion tore through the building and killed 15 men, women and children, making it the country's most devastating massacre of innocent civilians since the Nazi Blitz a generation before. Nevertheless, these victims became the forgotten victims of a dirty war.
Before the families buried their loved ones, the British state buried the truth.
The British government, military and RUC police immediately blamed the bombing on the innocent victims and their families have fought for the truth ever since.
About the author
Ciarán MacAirt's grandmother, Kathleen Irvine, was one of those murdered in the McGurk's Bar Massacre. His painstaking, meticulous research has uncovered collusion and cover-up by the British state and it is a paper trail that goes to the highest levels of the British government, police and military.
His research has featured in TV, radio and documentary programmes and in 2011 he presented his testimony to the powerful US Helsinki Commission on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. He now supports other families as they fight for truth and justice via the charity, Paper Trail.
About Colin Wallace
As a member of the British Army's top-secret psychological operations unit, Colin Wallace specialised in managing and disseminating information... or disinformation. He was working in Army Headquarters when news of the McGurk's Bar bombing broke and writes the Foreword.
Trope: Essays and Articles
Trope /trəʊp/ noun, a motif; a significant or recurrent theme
One recurring theme of this collection is that war is dirty and we are diminished by the death of every victim. Another is that behind the horror, behind the terror, are human love stories but those who are left behind are starved of truth. Information is today's battlefield and families are once more on the frontline.
But there is hope. Family memories only stretch back a couple of generations and the British state commandeers history but the truth can be discovered in archives if you dig... and keep digging.
Ciarán MacAirt is an award-winning writer and human rights activist. These essays and articles represent a personal journey and find him trudging from the killing fields of World War 1 to the back streets of Belfast where death squads prowled. Foreword by Father Sean McManus, renowned activist and author.
The author is donating ALL profits from the sale of Trope to the charity Paper Trail and its work with victims and survivors.
Read for free
Free investigative reports
Get these reports free from the Paper Trail library, along with the charity's other publications.
The McGurk's Bar Bombing: Post-Script
Post-Script features new evidence missed by previous historic investigations… or buried by them. This critical information includes the discovery of a covert British military operation in the vicinity of McGurk's Bar and collusion between the RUC police force and the British Commander in charge of Belfast. We name this infamous British soldier.
The Plot to Deceive Two Parliaments
This booklet follows years of archival research and information battles against the British state.
MacAirt has uncovered proof from secret British files of a high-level, coordinated and sustained plot to deceive the two Parliaments of Stormont and Westminster about the truth of the McGurk's Bar Massacre.
Shooters: Britain's Military Reaction Force
In a ground-breaking investigation, Ciarán MacAirt proves that undercover soldiers of Britain's Military Reaction Force (MRF) murdered and attempted to murder civilians in multiple attacks in Belfast in 1972. Files on seven British ex-MRF are now with the Public Prosecution Service although none have faced British justice yet.
Make History. Follow the Paper Trail.
New archive finds, case updates and films from Ciarán MacAirt and the charity Paper Trail. Ciarán's research is free to read because supporters fund it.