Actions of Britain’s top IRA spy likely resulted in more lives lost than saved, inquiry says

The actions of Britain's highest-ranking informer within the Irish Republican Army (IRA), codenamed "Stakeknife", likely resulted in more lives being lost than saved, an independent inquiry found on Friday. The IRA was responsible for more than half the 3,600 deaths during three decades of sectarian conflict in the British-ruled province that was largely ended by the signing of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord. The report found that British security forces were frequently aware of imminent abductions and murders and yet failed to protect those at risk.