Editing MI5 (section)

===The Security Service's role in counter-terrorism===
[[File:Thames house exterior.jpg|thumb|Part of [[Thames House]]]]
The end of the [[Cold War]] resulted in a change in emphasis for the operations of the service, assuming responsibility for the investigation of all [[Irish republicanism|Irish republican]] activity within Britain,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.NYTimes.com/2012/05/20/world/europe/7-suspected-of-ties-to-ira-faction-are-charged-with-terrorism.html|title=7 tied to faction of the IRA face terrorism charges|date=19 May 2012|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=20 November 2011}}</ref> and increasing the effort countering other forms of terrorism, particularly in more recent years the more widespread threat of [[Islamic extremism]].<ref>{{Cite web|first=Alasdair|last=Palmer|date=14 May 2006|url=https://www.Telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1518320/MI5-mission-impossible.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.Telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1518320/MI5-mission-impossible.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=MI5 mission: impossible|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=1 July 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Whilst the British security forces in [[Northern Ireland]] have provided support in the countering of both [[Irish republicanism|republican]] and [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] [[paramilitary]] groups since the early 1970s, republican sources have often accused these forces of [[collusion]] with loyalists.  In 2006, an Irish government committee inquiry found that there was widespread collusion between British security forces and loyalist terrorists in the 1970s, which resulted in eighteen deaths.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.IrishTimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/1129/breaking86.htm|title=Barron finds British collusion in attacks |url-access=subscription |date=29 November 2006|publisher=[[The Irish Times]] |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130127075813/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/1129/breaking86.html |archive-date= 27 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://Burnsmoley.com/pages/collusion/reports/Kays_Tavern.pdf|title=Final report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk|date=November 2006|website=Burns Moley|publisher=[[Houses of the Oireachtas]]|access-date=20 November 2011|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026014447/http://burnsmoley.com/pages/collusion/reports/Kays_Tavern.pdf|archive-date=26 October 2008}}</ref>  In 2012, a document based review by [[Desmond de Silva (barrister)|Sir Desmond de Silva]] [[Queen's Counsel|QC]] into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor [[Pat Finucane (solicitor)|Patrick Finucane]] found that MI5 had colluded with the [[Ulster Defence Association]] (UDA).<ref name=PatFinucaneReview>{{Cite web|url=http://www.PatFinucaneReview.org/report/volume01/chapter011/|title=Volume 1 chapter 11: The flow of information from members of the security forces to the UDA |publisher=Pat Finucane Review|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216022945/http://www.patfinucanereview.org/report/volume01/chapter011/|archive-date=16 December 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>  The review disclosed that MI5 assessments of UDA intelligence consistently noted that the majority came from MI5 sources, with an assessment in 1985 finding 85% came from MI5.<ref name=PatFinucaneReview/>  [[Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]] accepted the findings, and apologised on behalf of the British government, and acknowledged significant levels of collusion with Loyalists in its state agencies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pat Finucane murder: 'Shocking state collusion', says PM|url=https://www.BBC.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20662412|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=12 December 2012|access-date=16 July 2017}}</ref>

On 10 October 2007, the lead responsibility for national security intelligence in Northern Ireland returned to the Security Service from the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI), that had been devolved in 1976 to the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) during [[Ulsterisation]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=MI5 in Northern Ireland|url=https://www.MI5.gov.uk/mi5-in-northern-ireland|website=www.MI5.gov.uk|publisher=Security Service MI5|access-date=15 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Transfer of national security lead to the Security Service|url=http://www.PSNI.Police.uk/index/departments/crime/transfer_of_national_security_lead_to_the_security_service_page.htm|website=www.PSNI.Police.uk|publisher=[[Police Service of Northern Ireland]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608095622/http://www.psni.police.uk/index/departments/crime/transfer_of_national_security_lead_to_the_security_service_page.htm|archive-date=8 June 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>  During April 2010, the [[Real IRA]] detonated a 120&nbsp;lb [[car bomb]] outside Palace Barracks in [[County Down]], which is the headquarters of MI5 in Northern Ireland and also home to the 2nd Battalion [[The Mercian Regiment]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://News.BBC.co.uk/1/hi/8670037.stm|title=Man arrested over Palace Barracks bomb released|website=News.BBC.co.uk|date=9 May 2010|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=1 July 2012}}</ref>

MI5 is understood to have a close working relationship with the [[Republic of Ireland]]'s [[Special Detective Unit]] (SDU), the counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence section of the [[Garda Síochána]] (national police), particularly with regards to threats from [[dissident republican]] terrorism and [[Islamic terrorism]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=McDonald|first=Henry|date=2 March 2008|title=MI5 targets Ireland's al-Qaeda cells|url=https://www.TheGuardian.com/world/2008/mar/02/alqaida.ireland|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref>
[[File:MI5-GCHQ Memorial.jpg|alt=Memorial in the cloister of Westminster Abbey, London|thumb|Recognising service at home and abroad protecting the United Kingdom]]
Executive liaison groups enable MI5 to safely share secret, sensitive, and often raw intelligence with the police, on which decisions can be made about how best to gather evidence and prosecute suspects in the courts.  Each organisation works in partnership throughout the investigation, but MI5 retain the lead for collecting, assessing and exploiting intelligence.  The police take lead responsibility for gathering evidence, obtaining arrests, and preventing risks to the public.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Kim|last=Howells|author-link=Kim Howells|date=May 2009|url=http://www.CabinetOffice.gov.uk/media/210852/20090519_77review.pdf|title=Could 7/7 have been prevented? Review of the Intelligence on the London terrorist attacks on 7 July 2005|publisher=UK Cabinet Office, Intelligence and Security Committee|location=London|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20120503112509/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/210852/20090519_77review.pdf|archive-date=3 May 2012|access-date=25 May 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>