Weapons smuggling

CIA stayed silent on allegations it was involved in IRA gunrunning

The CIA stayed silent on explosive allegations it was involved in gunrunning to the IRA at the height of the Troubles, declassified intelligence files reveal.

The concerns were raised in a letter to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency from a congressman who warned it to "speak out vehemently" or risk other criminal and terrorist organisations "finding cover under the CIA umbrella".

It followed the November 1982 trial of five self-confessed IRA gun smugglers - including Michael Flannery, the 80-year-old founder of Noraid - found not guilty of transporting an arsenal of weapons and ammunition into Northern Ireland.

The five claimed they bought the arms from an arms dealer who was an undercover CIA agent.

The CIA, with a licence to export weapons, had aided their operation in order to monitor the flow of arms to Ireland and prevent the IRA from turning to the Soviet Union for arms, the defence claimed.