After the collapse of the IRA-British government contacts, Ó Conaill maintained informal contacts with Sir John Hackett, by then retired and Principal of King's College London, and who had been the commanding officer of British forces in Northern Ireland. In September 1973, Hackett reported to Woodfield of the Northern Ireland Office that Ó Conaill was "losing ground to younger and more impatient operators. To arrest him and remove him from the scene would loosen restraint on those and open the way for more irresponsible action."