Book: IRA came close to assassinating Howe

The IRA came within a whisker of assassinating Geoffrey Howe when he was British Foreign Secretary, according to a book published today.

British intelligence saved one of Margaret Thatcher’s most senior ministers from a huge car bomb that would have blown him to pieces and heralded the start of a spectacular new campaign of violence by the terror organisation.

The claim, by author Ed Moloney, also throws new light on the 1988 SAS operation in Gibraltar shortly afterwards, which Moloney suggests was linked to the botched attempt on Howe’s life.

The book, A Secret History Of The IRA, published by Penguin, names Gerry Adams as the IRA’s Belfast leader and charts his transformation from “hawk” to peacemaker.

Adams had previously denied being a member of the IRA.