Turn a Blind Eye is a work of fiction; however, many of the characters and events described herein are, in fact, real.
Denis Donaldson was indeed an informant for Britain’s MI5 while working within the IRA, and subsequently executed as described in the novel; however, the fictional Eamonn Mahoney, was (obviously) not involved in the operation’s planning.
The Belfast bank heist of £26.5 million in 2004 by members of the IRA, and their somewhat farcical attempts at hiding the money did occur as described.
The Vatican, and its Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) have a long and tawdry history of numerous money laundering scandals. Those described herein are accurate. As is the (described) murder of the Milanese banker, Roberto Calvi. And the failed smuggling attempt in 2013 of €20 million by Monsignor Scareno and associates.
Midway through my writing of Turn a Blind Eye the Panama Papers scandal broke. It blended in so neatly to the storyline I was already pursuing, I found it just too enticing to avoid. And although the current Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, was, in fact, named within the report, no question of any illegal acts should be read into my interpretation. The group of whistle-blowers, known as Plutus 7, is purely fictitious.
The political situation in Ireland surrounding the February 2016 election, the number of seats won by the Sinn Fein party and the subsequent scramble to form a government was also as it occurred. A subsequent run-off election held in May installed Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny as prime minister after forming a coalition with the Fianna Fáil party.
Although the Southern Cross Bank & Trust, the Sisters of Mercy Hospice, and a handful of other locations are figments of my imagination, I’ve tried my best to maintain as much realism with the locales, streets, churches, pubs and restaurants visited throughout – Including the line-up of musical acts playing at the Yarra Hotel in Abbotsford.
Any errors and/or omissions are solely mine.
Neil – May 2018