A TRANCHE of newly released documents has shed further light on the extent to which the Establishment was aware of collusion by state security forces and British armed forces in Northern Ireland.

The previously secret papers released today show that one of Northern Ireland’s top judges, Lord Justice Weir, believed the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was “worse and more sectarian” during the 1980s than it had been for decades.

They also show that in a private conversation with the Irish ambassador Noel Dorr in 1986, Mr Weir expressed the opinion that the controversial Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) existed as a “safety valve” to appease Protestant anger.