Marc McMenamin

Hayes was deserving of a book in his own right despite being referenced before in works by authors such as Coogan, Dwyer and Hull. I would have rated the book higher bar some glaring proof-reading clangers which should have been spotted.

Regardless for those who want to know about Hayes' contribution to both Ireland's defence and the Allied its all here. As is the security threat of Goertz and those who assisted him. It is a great shame that still, for many, it is the contribution of the latter that is remembered today than that of the former by most Irish-people. Such is the curious nature of Irish history.… (mais)

This book covers a very interesting topic and contains a lot of fascinating information. I was disappointed with the writing, editing and proofreading, especially as it was published by Gill Books. The book read like a first draft that needed a lot of editing to put the material in a more logical sequence and remove some of the ambiguity in the sentences.

Despite these serious issues I was interested enough in the subject matter to persevere and read the 230 pages in less than five days.

The book is supposedly about the involvement of Dr. Richard Hayes in deciphering several codes used by German spies in Ireland during World War II (WWII). It is about much more and contained some surprises for me.

It appears the section in the Irish military responsible for intelligence during WWII was called G2. G2 recruited the services of Dr. Richard Hayes, Director of the National Library of Ireland, to help with deciphering the code systems G2 found being used by German spies sent to Ireland. Marc McMenamin, the author, contends that the services of Dr. Hayes were very significant and contributed to shortening WWII through the breaking of codes at key junctures during the war(such as The Battle of The Bulge).

There is a lot of controversy in the history and detail in this book. Ireland was neutral during WWII and the level of interaction between G2 and the UK’s Bletchley Park would indicate that it was a strange sort of neutrality. The reasons put forward for the co-operation involved threats from Britain to invade Ireland if it did not prevent German spies based in Ireland from communicating with Germany and giving out information on British troop and naval movements.

Irish history is complex and when you look at a period in Irish history when Ireland had recently gained a degree of freedom from the UK but still had elements of the Republican movement active within the state that wanted to extend the freedom further, and add in a world war with two major combatants interested in using Irish territory for military purposes, the political environment becomes even more complex and confusing. This book is about just such a period.

It appears that only one German spy succeeded in travelling to Ireland and being at liberty for more that 24 hours during the entire period of WWII. This book reveals the work behind this that could not have been shared earlier due to the Irish Official Secrets Act and the possibility of the actions taken tainting the image of Ireland’s neutrality.… (mais)