Edward "Ed" Moloney is an Irish journalist and author.

He is best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. He served as Northern Ireland editor for the Irish Times and subsequently for the Sunday Tribune. He is currently living and working in New York. His first book was biography of controversial unionist leader Ian Paisley. In 2002 he published a best selling history of the Provisional IRA, A Secret History of the IRA. He book has been widely praised as the first "insider" account of the IRA, as it draws heavily from Moloney's personal contacts within the organisation. The Troubles is a term used to describe a period of sporadic communal violence involving paramilitary organisations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the British Army and others in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the late 1990s ending with the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998. ... Motto: [citation needed] (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... The Irish Times is Irelands newspaper of record, launched in the late 1850s. ... Sunday Tribune is an Irish Sunday newspaper humourously referred to as The Turbine, especially in the magazine The Phoenix. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... The word Unionist, simply meaning one espousing a union, has a number of connotations, depending on context: Unionists are people in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales who were historically in favour of uniting their nations into a United Kingdom, or who in modern times wish their nations to remain part... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Moloney's book presents the startling thesis that the leadership of Sinn Fein, most notably Gerry Adams, and the British government had been negotiating an end of the conflict in Northern Ireland since the mid 1980s and that the IRA campaign up until the 1994 ceasefire was being gradually wound down. Moloney also strongly implies, but does not directly say, that the IRA was penetrated at senior levels by British informers and spies and this was partly responsible for the end of its armed campaign. Sinn Féin (in the Irish language ourselves or we ourselves; not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone) is an Irish political party. ... Gerry Adams MP, MLA, (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for West Belfast. ...