JP O’Sullivan: The retired Garda claims informer John Corcoran was sacrificed to protect Sean O'Callaghan, an IRA killer who was also a State agent within the organisation. For a decade from the mid-1970s, O’Sullivan “ran” an agent inside the IRA in Cork: father-of-eight John Corcoran. However, O’Sullivan claims Corcoran was sacrificed by senior gardaí, including then commissioner Laurence Wren, who led the force from 1983 to 1987, to protect the more useful informer, Sean O’Callaghan. John Corcoran: An IRA member and Garda informer, he was murdered by the IRA in February 1985The first encounter with Corcoran was gently handled; the second, less so. On March 10th, O’Sullivan telephoned Corcoran at work; Corcoran told him that he was going to “do a job” in Kerry – the usual code for IRA activities.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2026 11:55 UTC