A behind-the-scenes documentary into IRA operations in Northern Ireland during The Troubles is to air on the BBC tonight.
‘The Secret Army’ was shot by an American film crew in 1972 who were allowed to film the IRA while they planned attacks and trained recruits.
The documentary was intended to be sold to networks in the US and around the world but, due to believed pressure from British intelligence agencies, it never came to be.
It was rediscovered some 50 years later in a New York City apartment and is now finally ready to see the light of day.
On Moncrieff today, Darragh MacIntyre, who led efforts in unearthing the documentary, said the IRA agreed to shoot the film as they wanted “a propaganda boost in America”.
“This is after Bloody Sunday when 13 civilians were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment, and another died four months later," he said.
“It was at a time when the IRA leadership had lots of recruits coming through and the British Government had closed down administration in Northern Ireland.
“It was at a time when the IRA thought they were on course for victory and they were on a high.
“I think they wanted this film to document that and they were prepared to take risks to do it.”
Martin McGuinness. Credit: George Sweeney/Alamy Live NewsMr MacIntyre said there was some interesting footage in the film.
“You had Martin McGuinness, who went on to head a new Northern Ireland Government, going around the Bogside with guns and overseeing a car bomb,” he said.
“He also oversaw a bomb-making class.”
Mr MacIntyre said IRA bombings across Northern Ireland after the film was shot, made the organisation less sympathetic to an American audience which may be why it was never shown there.
Forces at play
He also said John Boyer Bell, who made the original documentary, believed there were other forces at play too.
“Boyer Bell told a friend of his that the long arm of the British government had interfered,” he said.
“Because there was more to the sale of this film than American TV stations, there was also an effort to sell it elsewhere abroad which failed too.
“The executive producer, Leon Gilden, said he understood that all British Commonwealth countries, all English-speaking countries across the globe apart from ourselves, were forbidden to show it.”
Mr MacIntyre said after a couple of private showings in the US, it was shelved and has only resurfaced in recent years.
“We found it in the backroom of a New York apartment, still in its can,” he said.
“Most of the film was in great nick, but the main broadcast reel wasn’t.
“It had been sitting in a New York apartment for the guts of 50 years and, of course, it wasn’t in an air-conditioned environment.
“But we did have enough materials to put it together in its original format.”
The Secret Army will air tonight on BBC 2 and BBC Northern Ireland at 9pm.
You can listen back here:
Main image: The streets of Belfast during Bloody Sunday. Image: Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo
