Seán Hartnett left the British army in 2005, operating as a covert surveillance technician at JCU-NI, the top-secret counter-terrorism unit in Northern Ireland. His experiences were published in the bestselling Charlie One , the book the British Ministry of Defence tried to ban. But this wasn't the end of Hartnett's career in counter-espionage. After operations in South Africa, Australia and London, he arrived home to Ireland, just as the Celtic Tiger was about to implode, but not before Hartnett gets his hands dirty in the boardrooms of corporate and official Ireland… Client Confidential is a shocking exposé of the clandestine activities that foreshadowed the worst financial crash in the history of the Irish state. Many of the country's leading financial institutions and business figures began to see the cracks in the economy and their paranoia rattles. Hartnett was called in to protect and gather information – to carry out covert and counter surveillance for blue-chip companies, semi-state bodies, national sporting associations and convicted criminals. In Client Confidential , Seán Hartnett lifts the lid on the worst excesses of the Celtic Tiger – the heart of corporate greed, corruption and ineptitude in Ireland is revealed; the dark secrets never meant to see the light of day, are finally exposed.
Seán Hartnett grew up in Cork in the 1970s where he observed the worst of the northern Troubles with fascination. Despite his family s strong republican ties and his own attempt to join the IRA, Hartnett shocked family and friends when he changed allegiance and joined the British Armed Forces. In 2001 Hartnett returns to his native Ireland, but this time as a member of the British Army s most secretive covert counter-terrorist unit in Northern Ireland, Joint Communications Unit Northern Ireland aka JCU-NI, the FRU, 14 Intelligence Company, or simply The Det . For the next three years Hartnett is directly involved in some of the highest profile events of that period, from the arrest of John Hannan for the bombing of the BBC in London, to the tragic murder of David Caldwell; the prevention of the murder of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair and some of the biggest blunders by British Intelligence in the history of the Troubles, including the true story behind the murders of Corporals Howes and Wood at an IRA funeral in 1988. Charlie One , the call sign for the most wanted targets of British Intelligence operations in NI, documents the journey of an Irish Republican serving in Britain s most secretive counter-terrorism unit. Filled with roller coaster emotions and explosive revelations of British Intelligence covert capabilities and operations, Charlie One provides a truly unique, detailed and unbiased account of the secret war fought on the streets of Northern Ireland.