ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the link between interrogation and internment, by examining the interrogation operations that were carried out between 1971 and 1975 with a view to increasing the amount of intelligence available to the security forces. On 9th August 1971 internment without trial was introduced in Northern Ireland. This was the British and Northern Ireland Government's response to the continuation of 'the troubles'. As troublemakers were not being convicted, interning them provided an alternative way of keeping them off the streets and it was hoped would increase the conviction rate, improving stability in the region. The British Army had been sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969 to help the local police force the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) restore order. The RUC's intelligence-gathering capacity had been undermined when their B-Specials branch was disbanded. The B-Specials officially ceased to exist in April 1970, depriving the RUC of their traditional source of human intelligence.
