Thatcher's Spy

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Early one morning in March 1985, Willie Carlin boarded Margaret Thatcher’s prime-ministerial jet at RAF Aldergrove, unaware of the crucial role Freddie Scappaticci played in saving his life. This marked the dramatic extraction of Carlin, known as Agent 3007, who had spent 11 years working alongside former IRA commander Martin McGuinness in the political wing of Sinn Fein in Derry. As MI5’s operative next to McGuinness, Carlin provided the British State with invaluable insights into the IRA leader’s strategies. He collaborated with McGuinness to shape Sinn Fein’s election strategy after the 1981 hunger strike, and his reports on key republicans were reviewed by the British Cabinet, including Thatcher. In mid-1985, Carlin’s cover was compromised when one of his former MI5 handlers was imprisoned as a Soviet spy, prompting Thatcher to authorize his swift extraction via her jet. Remarkably, it was another British ‘super spy’ within the IRA's counter-intelligence unit, the ‘nuttin’ squad,’ who ultimately saved Carlin’s life. This compelling narrative intertwines the Cold War with Northern Ireland’s Dirty War, chronicling the life of a deep undercover intelligence agent forever forced to look over his shoulder.