I am in constant communication with ex-army pals who walked those mean streets of Ulster on Op Banner, and I can assure you all that the involvement of local priests was well known to them all.
I submit the following extracts from their own words on the subject:
From soldier (A)
All you ex Bogside trekkers will remember St Columbs. A sergeant-major was shot in Echo OP which was located on the top of the old Embassy ballroom in the Strand. The shot was fired from the spire of St Columbs. Plus every time you passed the place, the stink of marzipan made your eyes water yet we were never allowed to search the grounds. (Marzipan is what explosive smelled like)
From soldier (B)
The Sky Pilots were always at it. There was a priest at Holy Cross church in Belfast, who tied pieces of coloured cloth to the railings as a signal to snipers in the Ardoyne when a foot patrol was coming up the Woodvale. Nothing happened to him either.
From soldier (C) (following on from previous comment)
Not only did this tell the sniper that a patrol was coming, it also told him his wind and variation, enabling him to have a more accurate shot.
From soldier (D)
Everyone knew it mate but the powers that be chose to ignore it. The church must have known....they hid it like they hide everything else.
I wonder how many deaths are at their hand......
From soldier (E)
Just saw this news item come up on the BBC news and as usual it went back to Bloody Sunday and intimated that it all started from that day . Bloody typical BBC no mention of the two and a half years of murder and mayhem caused by the IRA from 1969 to 1972 . The message they gave was clear - the Claudy bombing was our fault and a direct result of Bloody Sunday. God i hate the BBC.
From soldier (D) (again)
Interestingly the 'expert' that Sky news just had on was a Brendon O'Duffy, expert on Irish affairs.........he was an American of Irish decent.....sums it up really. He got his degree from university in Boston....hot bed of NORAID.
As a post script to this, 1972 was the bloodiest year of the conflict.
There were officially
1,853 bombings
10,564 shootings
129 deaths of serving soldiers
17 deaths of members of the RUC
223 civilians killed
98 proven terrorists killed
9 people, including an 8yr old girl and 2 teenagers were killed and dozens injured when three car bombs were detonated without warning in Claudy, nr Londonderry, on July 31st.
The British Army were NOT fought to a standstill, as claimed in a previous post.
---------Refers to a deleted post. JoeClone---------------
The conflict was brought to an end (officially) after 35 years of bloodshed, by the so called Good Friday Agreement, which released dozens of known murderers back onto the streets.
That same agreement continues to 'pardon' known criminals even now.