A story of State betrayal, complicity, cover-up and one man’s quest for justice.

In 1985, John Corcoran, a Garda informer within the ranks of the Cork IRA, was exposed and brutally executed by militant republicans. No one has ever been charged. For decades, speculation was rife that the most senior ranked Gardaí allowed John Corcoran – a father of eight – to be murdered to protect Sean O’Callaghan, the State’s most prized IRA informer during the Troubles.

Now, for the first time, J.P. O’Sullivan – Corcoran’s Special Branch handler – breaks his silence. He reveals the chain of events leading to the sacrificial killing, including detailed reports he filed warning of potential threats to his informant’s life that were systematically ignored by Garda Intelligence. He recounts how he was inexplicably sidelined from the investigation into Corcoran’s murder and later framed and convicted for a crime he did not commit in order to silence him and bury the truth.

O’Sullivan’s account is a damning indictment of Garda corruption at the highest levels. It exposes murky manoeuvres, a flawed investigation, and the devastating cost paid by a detective who refused to back down. This is a story of betrayal and complicity in a state under siege, and one man’s quest for justice.