Mark McGovern – författare

'As one would expect in a book written by authors of such varied outlook, no single vision emerges. But some fascinating material does.' Times Literary Supplement‘The breadth of material considered by the contributors to Who Are ‘The People’? provides an excellent introduction to the way in which the broad identity of Ulster Loyalism is underpinned by gender and class, expressed in work as well as social environments, and voiced through religious allusion as well as political rhetoric.’ Irish Studies Review'It confronts all the issues you're not supposed to raise in polite company. Read it and you'll have to revise many of your prejudices, while having one or two confirmed.' Camden New Journal

Collusion by British state forces in killings perpetrated by loyalist paramilitaries was a dubious hallmark of the 'dirty war' in the north of Ireland. Now, more than twenty years since the Good Friday Agreement, the story of collusion remains one of the most enduring and contentious legacies of the conflict, a shadow that trails British counterinsurgency to this day.Here Mark McGovern turns back the clock to the late 1980s and early '90s - the 'endgame' of the Troubles, and a period defined by a rash of state-sanctioned paramilitary killings. Drawing on previously unpublished evidence, and original testimony from victims' families and eyewitnesses, he examines several dozen killings of republicans that took place in the Mid-Ulster area, and the impact on their families and communities.Placing these accounts within a wider critical analysis of the nature of British counterinsurgency and the state use of agents and informers, McGovern paints a damning picture of covert, deniable and unlawful violence.