Stone Cold

by Martin Dillon

In March 1988 three unarmed members of an IRA active service unit, shot dead by SAS operatives in Gibraltar, were buried in Belfast's Milltown Cemetery. Loyalist terrorist Michael Stone unleashed a deadly rampage at their funeral, killing three people and leaving 50 more wounded before he was apprehended.

STONE COLD not only looks at Stone's life but reveals sensational new evidence regarding the two soldiers who were caught up in the funeral cortege for the Milltown victims. The televised act of frenzied mob violence that resulted in their murders, battered senseless and then shot, sent shockwaves around the world and through Belfast itself.

Martin Dillon's gripping account draws on his extensive conversations with Stone, now serving a life sentence in the Maze Prison, to present a chilling portrait of a charming, boastful, meticulous, sentimental and, above all, lethal killer.

Genres: Ireland, History, Nonfiction, True Crime, War, Irish Literature

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Martin Dillon has won international acclaim for his unique, investigative works on the Ireland conflict. Dr. Conor Cruise O’Brien, the renowned historian and scholar, described him as “our Virgil to that inferno.” The Irish Times hailed him as one of the most creative writers of our time and the Guardian compared him to John Le Carrie and Len Deighton. Martin Dillon’s trilogy, The Shankill Butchers, The Dirty War & God and the Gun, sold over a quarter of a million copies in the British Isles. His twelve non-fiction works are considered definitive accounts of the conflict. He began his distinguished career as a newspaper reporter and later became a programme editor with the BBC and a writer/producer with its award winning Timewatch. Throughout his BBC career he campaigned against its flawed interpretations of what constituted balance. He has been a terrorism expert for news outlets in Europe and North America. His play The Squad was one of the first about The Troubles and was produced on BBC radio and television by the late Ronald Mason, the esteemed Head of BBC Radio Three Drama. Dillon’s books include The Enemy Within, an account of the IRA’s terror campaigns in Britain, starting at the outbreak of World War II. Stone Cold was a portrait of a natural born killer and in The Trigger Men he delved into the lives of the most notorious assassins. Dillon exposed the IRA’s secret burials, the use of State-sponsored assassins and the phenomenon of sadistic torture by paramilitaries. He helped prepare the way for peace in Ireland by bringing together Nobel Prize winner, John Hume, and Gerry Adams, the IRA’s political leader. His help and advice were sought by the Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments. As a journalist and writer his life has been intertwined with the history of the Irish Troubles and its darkest days. He is often described as one of the most important voices of the conflict.
His latest book is his the memoir, Crossing the Line- My Life on the Edge.
According to Irish Times, the memoir “details a life that’s involved many incredible moments: witnessing the horrors of the Troubles; encounters with major political figures and paramilitaries; rubbing shoulders with Irish literary greats; a successful broadcasting career, but one where he butted heads with BBC management; and having to leave Northern Ireland because of death threats.
Henry McDonald; author, journalist and Ireland correspondent for The Guardian says the memoir is replete with such colourful stories involving the politicians, terrorists, artists and writers he met while covering the conflict in Northern Ireland”.
Readers of this book, and of Dillon’s other works, will agree that “He has that unique knack of combining forensic historical fact-based research with the art of thriller-like writing. His books have accurately chartered the terror and the horror of recent Northern Irish history but always in a tone of compassion for the innocent victims caught up in conflict. Works like his 'The Shankill Butchers' and 'The Dirty War' stand the test of time and will be essential reading for generations to come for those trying to make sense out of the madness that was 'The Troubles'.
Author and journalist, Hugh Jordan, had this to say about Martin Dillon in 2017:
Martin Dillon is a renowned world expert on terrorism. He has written and spoken extensively on this modern day phenomenon, which continues to hit the headlines on a daily basis.

As a journalist, he came well-equipped to cope with the subject. Born in Belfast – the citadel of Ulster unionism at the heart of the divided society that is Northern Ireland - Martin Dillon understood from an early age, the causes of political conflict which if left unaddressed manifests itself in violence.

And as young reporter he stood out among his peers, because he quickly identified the line where politics ended and terrorism began.

Martin’s professional life began on a leading Irish newspaper in 1968.

Reviews

[Martin Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very powerful book. Incredibly well researched.
I remember seeing the Milltown Massacre on tv, then the horrible footage of the Corporal Killings a few days later.
This tells Stone's story leading up to and including those events...it's an old copy so nothing on subsequent releases and the Stormont attack.

Whatever Michael Stone thinks he is (soldier / family man / hero / protector of innocents) he's just another mindless terrorist

[martin rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant writer martin dillon is his reserch in ni is fantastic i plan to read all of his books and cant wait for the new book the serpent tail There is so much in this book that people dont realise a must read for anybody interested in the troubles in ni

[Eilidh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good review of Michael Stone's life and the Troubles, but it unfortunately paints the RUC as innocent upholders of the peace, which has been proved to be untrue.

[Sheena Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing & informative :)

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think too much time has passed for me to properly enjoy this book. It was probably much more interesting as the Northern Ireland peace process was in its early stages. Many of the allegations made by the author have now been clearly established as fact such as collusion between the authorities and both loyalist and republican paramlitary group. I found some of the rhetoric a little biased and laced with stereotypical views of the Northern Ireland two communities.
However I have read many of Dillons books all the way back to "Political Murder" and I do rate him as a top journalist and author. I just didnt warm to this one.

[NewFrontier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spends a lot of time unnecessarily psychoanalysing Stone. It should be clear to anyone that Stone is a low-level psychopath, and complex psychobabble about him murdering innocents due to the fact that he might have had catholic ascestors is just dumb. Otherwise the book is well-written, and worth reading alone for the information about how the british intelligence used very dirty tricks in the Northern Ireland confilict, and on the relationships of foreign intelligence services like the Israeli Mossad to the varioud Protestant paramilitary groups.

[Michael Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives the background to Stone and whilst interesting it lacks the breadth of other Dillon books