Gordon Carrera

But the main part of the IRA at this time in the late 60s is actually the part in Northern Ireland is focused, interestingly enough, on trying to establish unity of Protestant and Catholic working class as the first route to getting independence.

But what you see within that part of the IRA is that that is seen as failing to protect the community.

So there's a split in December 1969.

And those who are more militant and want to confront the British state, and now the British army, form something called the provisional IRA, often called PIRA, or the provost, or often just called the IRA, really, because the other part, the official IRA, is it's

termed, will fade from view and Pira or the provost will become the main IRA and the main force fighting the Brits.

And Scappaticci, like a lot of the younger generation, joins the provost because the provosts are the young and they're new.

The new members are going to rise fast.

He's going to get well known in the markets area.

I mean, people do say, I mean, going back to the name, that it makes him distinctive.

I do like, you know, one fact is supposedly he'd get annoyed when people wouldn't pronounce his name right.

And Becky, our producer, will need the bleep gun here because he would look at them and he goes, it's Scapa F*** Tichy is how he'd tell them to pronounce it when they got it wrong.

But I think it does suggest that he's young here in his early 20s, but he's already a

a bit of a character as the provisional IRA is pursuing this strategy which is it's going to use force to try and collapse the Northern Ireland Unionist government and inflict casualties on the British army with the hope that that will make them withdraw and ultimately the British state withdraw.

So

By October 1970, there's going to be a bombing campaign.

The first members of the security forces are killed that year.

And you go through phases.

I think initially there's disorder and rioting.

And then from around 1971, you get what's called the insurgency phase, where the provisional IRA is formed in a militaristic manner with companies, battalions and brigades.

And there are firefights on the streets with the army during these years.