How Not to Be a Spy

For our third season we focus on one story in this two part Docu-Drama. The true story of Hermann Goertz, the Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland.

Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goertz’s eyes we learn about the attitudes of normal people towards the new Irish Free State, the uncomfortable truths people dealt with after a vicious civil war and how Dublin during the ‘Emergency’ became a centre of covert espionage.