Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

Keefe introduces Brendan Hughes, the officer commanding for the D Company, or “Dirty Dozen,” in the Provisional IRA. The chapter tells the story of a special mission to capture or kill Hughes, carried out, as we learn at the end of the chapter, by a highly secretive wing of the British Army called the MRF (acronym unknown).

When an unmarked van started chasing Hughes and its passengers began firing bullets at him, he sprinted along a circuit of well-known alleys and arrived to safety at one of the Provos’ many “call houses,” which were ordinary homes that “double[d] as clandestine Provo facilities” (60). He was, however, badly hurt when he crashed through the house’s window in his haste to escape his pursuers. It was too dangerous to go to a hospital; Adams came quickly with a doctor, who performed minor surgery on Hughes’s wrist without any real medical equipment.

The chapter offers insight into the local leadership of the Provos in West Belfast. Hughes organized smugglers to bring in arms from the US (most notably Armalites, a type of semi-automatic rifle). He was known for his tenacity and the fact that he carried out missions alongside those he ordered; he did not merely command from afar.