Caroline grew up in Londonderry as the daughter of a British Army Officer who was at the time the the Director of Works for Londonderry Development Commission. Being a "Brit" in Londonderry through the 60s and 70s wasn't that much fun. Like you she still cannot go into or sit in a room at night with no curtains and the light on.
Father in law would completely agree that "Mafia Like" organised crime underpinned much of the troubles.
He used to tell a story about an Italian owned business in Belfast that was untouched by the troubles... because, he said, they paid protection money to the Italian Mafia and when pressure was applied by the IRA the friends in Sicily sent over a team to "sort out" the problem. The result was a string of murders and badly broken bodies and a remarkable reluctance to talk to anyone. No idea if it is a true story or not, but is plausible.
