An immutable law of social science and public law in every modern country and known since the first Noel or Christmas...so,pay heed,Pope and pauper both!

 A wanderer  between sky and cloud,a paid police  informer,will walk up to you or call at your door sooner or later as Judas did to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and approached Jesus at Mary and Martha's house before he 'made his move'.

He will find some way to inveigle himself into his target's company and circle of acquaintances to find out about him so that he can report back about him or  have him beaten up,arrested or killed. I refer to people such as Brian Mc Cartney,Cathal Morris and Jim Quinn and Paddy Gilgunn.

 Note the example of the Biblical Judas. That type will operate on behalf of some security firm, police,army or judgement enforcement agency. 

He has no links in the sense of family or kinfolk or official officeholding to even one of those government agencies. 

He is a weak sort of person,a candle in the wind, someone motivated by purely selfish interests.

 He VOLUNTEERED for his role unless he was a target of police blackmail. In the latter instance he may have been a sexual recruit or recruited as a child informant.

He may profit illegally from public charity. Judas profited from the alms of the Apostles from which he stole. Read the Gospels.

He borrows from you but he never pays you back the full measure of what he owes you. He reneges on family commitments and hangs back when it comes to paying for something on a social occasion.

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The 'home visits'

He will try to "make out" that he is "acting out of the goodness of his heart" by visiting and that your unpaid work was undertaken by you to "benefit many" or out of a sense of "duty and service" (Joe Mc Veigh).

His superior in this game of bluff will describe your main debtor as "a charity". Your "friend" was the sole beneficiary of your endeavours. He has often broken both the governing civil and CRIMINAL law. Nobody knows that fact better than he does. He is obliged to play "the wise guide" , neutral  and "friend in need" . His aim is to hoodwink his target. 

In his heart of hearts, he knows that his ultimate destination is prison or a place of confinement and premature death in suspicious circumstances.

After his passing,he will soon be forgotten. He passes away quickly after a sudden but painful illness. That could easily have been avoided if he had sought to get medical advice in good time.

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When he comes to your house with someone else,he intends to beat you up. Both have betrayed other people to the police. 

That is their function in society.

His enquiries concern the political views of the "host beast" and that receptor's private opinions and personal life. 

The spy in the cab, the court rapporteur

The paid police informer thinks that he can avoid final retribution by engaging his victim in a "merry jaunt",a game of chase and in other fatuous nonsense such as a quiz.

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Religious festivals,the Judaic rota

He is a curmudgeon,a dog-in-the-manger type who always appears at Christmas and Easter to have his target killed. That is when Jesus in the biblical epic was threatened and put to death. 

An anti-Christ,an informer,is ultimately informed by biblical precedent.

Pre-arrest dramas

He arrives at your door unexpectedly. He never seeks permission to enter or use the toilet since he intends to piss on your bathroom floor.

In the end,he goes to jail or dies by suicide. "Numerous people have their knives out for him". 

He is not interested in sane politics but claims that he votes. He lies about how he casts his vote as will anyone who is paid directly or indirectly from public funds.

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When he phones and you want him to hang up?

Say to him,"I will let you get on with what you were doing before you called me." 

The country response to this "wiseacre" was, "Good luck to you and don't come back because you're not welcome here."

 The Lallans response? 

"Bad scrant [food] to you!" 

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Informers in the Six Counties are drawn from former policemen and from former UDR and members of the loyalist and Masonic community,both Catholic and Protestant.

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One variety of persistent late-night nuisance is  the repeat telephone caller. He is  a fickle friend. He is often a man of some property and the prescient ambition to acquire your tenancy or house, a glorified beggar. Often, he has been imbibing strong liquor or talking to his police "handlers". He does so to receive instructions on what the police wish to learn from you,usually your political views,partisan loyalties or voting preferences. 

The MI 5 agent

Some forms of police activity merely involve political "focus groups".

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The South

A casual informant works solely for the Gardai or police. He carries stories around all the receptors.

That sort of agent may appear as an election canvasser to seek your endorsement for someone who he hates with a vengeance. I refer to an undercover Garda, someone such as Phil Flanagan or Seamus Treanor. 

You will see that type of police informer "hanging around" a library or somewhere in its environs. Political intelligence gathering is centred on libraries,not police stations. Undercover policemen and political spies rarely visit their local police station.

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A quick follow-up. The reply?

Say,"Skat!" 

Tell a persistent nuisance such as a police informer or court rapporteur,"Get out or I will call the police."

Say to late night telephone callers,

" There's no need to call me again at this time, particularly so late at night and so unexpectedly. If you call me again for any reason, I will report you to the police or my solicitor for giving information about me to plainclothes policemen. I have asked my solicitor to contact a responsible member of your family. In this country that's your mother or sister,not your father because he was a police informer as are you. Your sort of activity runs in families."