Dissident threat - Continuity IRA left reeling over high-level informer

Dissident threat - Continuity IRA left reeling over high-level informer

16 October 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey


The Continuity IRA has been left reeling after a leading member was taken into Garda protective custody after it emerged that he was a high-level informer.

Garda Special Branch officers are understood to have brought the Co Donegal man into a protection scheme after the CIRA suspected him of tipping off the security forces about plans to kill a Catholic police recruit in Co Fermanagh last November.

Dissident chiefs are believed to have launched a hunt for an informer within their ranks after two of its most senior members were arrested and later charged in the well-planned security force ambush.

Security sources confirmed that the Ballyshannon man and his family are in protective custody.

There is growing speculation that the move may be linked to the discovery of a number of arms dumps in the Republic in recent weeks.  It is understood that the 38-year-old first agreed to begin working for Garda Special Branch while he was awaiting trial on serious fraud charges last year.  When he appeared in court he admitted charges of defrauding a finance company over hire purchase agreements.  However, the case was unexpectedly adjourned to allow him to repay the money.

Dissident sources last night said that the man came under suspicion shortly after a security force ambush in Garrison last year.

Irish army reserve soldier Gerard James McManus, from Fern Hill in Letterkenny, was arrested hiding in a shed in the village after a gun battle with undercover police who had been hiding in the home of the Catholic police trainee.

During questioning Mr McManus said he had only opened fire after being shot at by police.  He said that he had aimed his gun away from police and had not intended to kill.

Kevin Barry Nolan (32) from Main Street, Blacklion in Co Cavan, was arrested after undercover police rammed a getaway car he was driving.  The 32-year-old had previously stood as an independent republican candidate in council elections in Co Fermanagh in 2005.

In March it emerged that Tyrone man Martin Kelly had been taken into protective custody in the Republic and had agreed to co-operate with detectives investigating the dissident murder of Strabane man Andrew Burns in 2008.

In November 2007 Letterkenny man Liam McGinley was taken into protective custody after passing on information to gardai about the Real IRA murder of Sinn Fein administrator turned MI5 agent Denis Donaldson.

McGinley is reported to have identified the killers to gardai and to have passed on information which led to the recovery of a sledgehammer that the Real IRA gang had used to break down the door of Mr Donaldson's cottage in Co Donegal in April 2006 before killing him.

Mr McGinley is understood to have agreed to cooperate after having been abducted and shot by the Real IRA in November 2007.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, CIRA, Co. Donegal, Denis Donaldson, Liam McGinley, protective custody, Real IRA, sledgehammer

Continuity IRA left reeling over high-level informer

Dissident threat - Continuity IRA left reeling over high-level informer

16 October 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

The Continuity IRA has been left reeling after a leading member was taken into Garda protective custody after it emerged that he was a high-level informer.

Garda Special Branch officers are understood to have brought the Co Donegal man into a protection scheme after the CIRA suspected him of tipping off the security forces about plans to kill a Catholic police recruit in Co Fermanagh last November.

Dissident chiefs are believed to have launched a hunt for an informer within their ranks after two of its most senior members were arrested and later charged in the well-planned security force ambush. Security sources confirmed that the Ballyshannon man and his family are in protective custody. There is growing speculation that the move may be linked to the discovery of a number of arms dumps in the Republic in recent weeks.

It is understood that the 38-year-old first agreed to begin working for Garda Special Branch while he was awaiting trial on serious fraud charges last year.  When he appeared in court he admitted charges of defrauding a finance company over hire purchase agreements.  However, the case was unexpectedly adjourned to allow him to repay the money.

Dissident sources last night said that the man came under suspicion shortly after a security force ambush in Garrison last year.

Irish army reserve soldier Gerard James McManus, from Fern Hill in Letterkenny, was arrested hiding in a shed in the village after a gun battle with undercover police who had been hiding in the home of the Catholic police trainee.  During questioning Mr McManus said he had only opened fire after being shot at by police.  He said that he had aimed his gun away from police and had not intended to kill.

Kevin Barry Nolan (32) from Main Street, Blacklion in Co Cavan, was arrested after undercover police rammed a getaway car he was driving.  The 32-year-old had previously stood as an independent republican candidate in council elections in Co Fermanagh in 2005.

In March it emerged that Tyrone man Martin Kelly had been taken into protective custody in the Republic and had agreed to co-operate with detectives investigating the dissident murder of Strabane man Andrew Burns in 2008.

In November 2007 Letterkenny man Liam McGinley was taken into protective custody after passing on information to gardai about the Real IRA murder of Sinn Fein administrator turned MI5 agent Denis Donaldson.

McGinley is reported to have identified the killers to gardai and to have passed on information which led to the recovery of a sledgehammer that the Real IRA gang had used to break down the door of Mr Donaldson's cottage in Co Donegal in April 2006 before killing him.

Mr McGinley is understood to have agreed to cooperate after having been abducted and shot by the Real IRA in November 2007.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Donegal, Informers, Liam McGinley, MI5

Inquest on MI5 agent adjourned

Inquest on MI5 agent adjourned

27 August 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

The family of MI5 agent Denis Donaldson last night criticised the decision to adjourn an inquest into his death for a fifth time.

Relatives of the former Sinn Fein administrator had travelled to Letterkenny in Co Donegal yesterday hoping that a date for an inquest into his death would be announced.

The 56 year-old, pictured, was shot dead by the Real IRA in April 2006, just weeks after he admitted that he had been an MI5 agent for more than 20 years.

Since then the Garda had requested that the opening of the inquest into his death be adjourned four previous times due to its ongoing investigations.

That evidence relates to information provided by Donegal man Liam McGinley, who is understood to have identified Mr Donaldson's killers and the location of a sledge hammer used in the attack.

The 29 year-old is now thought to be in protective custody in the Republic.

Garda barrister Stephen Byrne insisted that progress was being made, in what he said was a "very complex investigation".

He said that the detective leading the inquiry, Superintendent Michael Finan, was "obviously restrained in what he could put publicly" before an inquest at this stage.

However, the Donaldson family have become increasingly frustrated at the repeated delays.

The family's solicitor Ciaran Shiels argued that any further adjournment would be unlawful under European law and accused the Garda of repeatedly "frustrating" attempts to open an inquest.

He said that despite Garda claims of progress, there was no indication whether anyone will charged with Mr Donaldson's murder in the near future.

Mr Shiels claimed there was a pattern that each time the inquest was due to open there was "a flurry of activity" in which the family were informed there was a new development.

Following legal arguments, Coroner Dr Denis McCauley said that he would schedule a pre-inquest hearing on 27 January.

He said the Garda and the Donaldson family would be expected to deliver detailed arguments about future proceedings.

He said it would also be decided if the inquest would simply identify how Mr Donaldson was killed or, as the family wish, fully investigate the wider surroundings of his death.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Donegal, Liam McGinley, MI5, Real IRA

Inquest on MI5 agent adjourned

Inquest on MI5 agent adjourned

27 August 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

The family of MI5 agent Denis Donaldson last night criticised the decision to adjourn an inquest into his death for a fifth time.

Relatives of the former Sinn Fein administrator had travelled to Letterkenny in Co Donegal yesterday hoping that a date for an inquest into his death would be announced.

The 56 year-old, pictured, was shot dead by the Real IRA in April 2006, just weeks after he admitted that he had been an MI5 agent for more than 20 years.

Since then the Garda had requested that the opening of the inquest into his death be adjourned four previous times due to its ongoing investigations.

That evidence relates to information provided by Donegal man Liam McGinley, who is understood to have identified Mr Donaldson's killers and the location of a sledge hammer used in the attack.

The 29 year-old is now thought to be in protective custody in the Republic.

Garda barrister Stephen Byrne insisted that progress was being made, in what he said was a "very complex investigation".

He said that the detective leading the inquiry, Superintendent Michael Finan, was "obviously restrained in what he could put publicly" before an inquest at this stage.

However, the Donaldson family have become increasingly frustrated at the repeated delays.

The family's solicitor Ciaran Shiels argued that any further adjournment would be unlawful under European law and accused the Garda of repeatedly "frustrating" attempts to open an inquest.

He said that despite Garda claims of progress, there was no indication whether anyone will charged with Mr Donaldson's murder in the near future.

Mr Shiels claimed there was a pattern that each time the inquest was due to open there was "a flurry of activity" in which the family were informed there was a new development.

Following legal arguments, Coroner Dr Denis McCauley said that he would schedule a pre-inquest hearing on 27 January.

He said the Garda and the Donaldson family would be expected to deliver detailed arguments about future proceedings.

He said it would also be decided if the inquest would simply identify how Mr Donaldson was killed or, as the family wish, fully investigate the wider surroundings of his death.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Informers, Liam McGinley, MI5, Real IRA

Donaldson inquest to start 4 yrs after death

Donaldson inquest to start 4 yrs after death
26 August 2010
Mirror

MURDER

AN inquest into the death of Sinn Fein's Denis Donaldson may finally go ahead today - four years after his murder.

The former chief administrator, 56, who admitted he was a paid British informer for 20 years, was shot dead at his cottage near Glenties, Co Donegal, in April 2006.

A preliminary inquest into his death opened in November 2007 but has been put off on four occasions because gardai said they were continuing their investigations.

No one has ever been charged in connection with the murder.

Mr Donaldson's family have said they want the inquest to proceed as soon as possible stating they thought the investigation will "go nowhere".

They also made formal complaints to both the Garda Ombudsman and Garda Complaints Board saying their confidence in the investigation has been "seriously undermined".

The Real IRA's Army Council later issued a statement claiming responsibility for the death. They also gave a chilling insight into his final moments alive.

The statement said: "He just ran into the back room. He seemed to know what was coming.

"There was a struggle and he ended up on the ground. He didn't cry or plead for help."

Donaldson's right hand was severed during the attack.

In February Gda Supt Michael Finan asked for a nine-month adjournment at the inquest but Coroner Dr Denis McCauley said he was only prepared to grant six months - until today.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Informers, MI5, Real IRA

Ruling on MI5 agent's inquest expected 4 years after killing

Ruling on MI5 agent's inquest expected 4 years after killing

26 August 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

A Donegal coroner is expected to rule today on whether an inquest into the murder of MI5 agent Denis Donaldson can open - more than four years after he was shot dead.

The 56-year-old was killed by the Real IRA in April 2006 at an isolated cottage at Doochary, Co Donegal, four months after publicly admitting that he had been a British spy inside Sinn Fein for more than 20 years.

Donaldson, who had previously been implicated in an IRA spy ring at Stormont, died after being hit by two shotgun blasts as he tried to flee from the early morning attack.

However, the inquest into his death has been postponed four times on the request of Garda detectives because of ongoing investigations into the killing.

In February gardai asked for a nine-month adjournment claiming investigations were very "technical in detail" with other "avenues" needing to be pursued.

That evidence is believed to have been linked to information from Donegal man Liam McGinley who is understood to have supplied gardai with details about the Donaldson murder, including the identity of the killers, and the location of a sledgehammer used in the attack.

McGinley, from the Falcarragh area of Donegal, was reported to have been taken into protective custody and begun co-operating with gardai after he was shot and left for dead by the Real IRA in November 2007.

When he appeared at Letterkenny District Court three months later he was surrounded by armed gardai.

He was sentenced to six months in prison for theft and public order offences.

However, his solicitor claimed that sending McGinley to prison would be "tantamount to a death sentence" adding his life would be at risk if he was placed with the general prison population. He subsequently received a further three-year sentence in February this year after being convicted of robbery.

The Republic's prison service was yesterday unable to say where McGinley is being held.

Garda sources claim that a file is with the Republic's prosecution service to decide if McGinley would be a credible witness.

It is understood gardai will ask for another delay in the inquest, possibly up to a year, when the preliminary hearing reopens today.

In February the Donaldson family's solicitor Ciaran Shiels warned that they would not be prepared to accept any further delay in opening the inquest. At that hearing Donegal coroner Dr Denis McCauley agreed to adjourn the inquest for a further six months, until August 26.

However, Dr McCauley told gardai that they would "have to have a very good reason" why he should not name a date for the opening of the inquest.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Donegal, Liam McGinley, MI5, Real IRA

Murdered informer's inquest to start

Murdered informer's inquest to start

26 August 2010
Belfast Telegraph

THE inquest into the death of Sinn Fein member Denis Donaldson could finally go ahead today -- four years after he was murdered.

The former Sinn Fein chief administrator (56), who admitted he was a paid British informer for 20 years, was shot dead at his cottage outside Glenties in Co Donegal in April 2006.

A preliminary inquest into his death opened in November 2007 but has been put off on four occasions as gardai said they were continuing their investigations.

Mr Donaldson's family have said they want the inquest to proceed as soon as possible.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Donegal, Informers

Ruling on MI5 agent's inquest expected 4 years after killing

Ruling on MI5 agent's inquest expected 4 years after killing

26 August 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

A Donegal coroner is expected to rule today on whether an inquest into the murder of MI5 agent Denis Donaldson can open - more than four years after he was shot dead.

The 56-year-old was killed by the Real IRA in April 2006 at an isolated cottage at Doochary, Co Donegal, four months after publicly admitting that he had been a British spy inside Sinn Fein for more than 20 years.

Donaldson, who had previously been implicated in an IRA spy ring at Stormont, died after being hit by two shotgun blasts as he tried to flee from the early morning attack.

However, the inquest into his death has been postponed four times on the request of Garda detectives because of ongoing investigations into the killing.

In February gardai asked for a nine-month adjournment claiming investigations were very "technical in detail" with other "avenues" needing to be pursued.

That evidence is believed to have been linked to information from Donegal man Liam McGinley who is understood to have supplied gardai with details about the Donaldson murder, including the identity of the killers, and the location of a sledgehammer used in the attack.

McGinley, from the Falcarragh area of Donegal, was reported to have been taken into protective custody and begun co-operating with gardai after he was shot and left for dead by the Real IRA in November 2007.

When he appeared at Letterkenny District Court three months later he was surrounded by armed gardai.

He was sentenced to six months in prison for theft and public order offences.

However, his solicitor claimed that sending McGinley to prison would be "tantamount to a death sentence" adding his life would be at risk if he was placed with the general prison population. He subsequently received a further three-year sentence in February this year after being convicted of robbery.

The Republic's prison service was yesterday unable to say where McGinley is being held.

Garda sources claim that a file is with the Republic's prosecution service to decide if McGinley would be a credible witness.
It is understood gardai will ask for another delay in the inquest, possibly up to a year, when the preliminary hearing reopens today.

In February the Donaldson family's solicitor Ciaran Shiels warned that they would not be prepared to accept any further delay in opening the inquest. At that hearing Donegal coroner Dr Denis McCauley agreed to adjourn the inquest for a further six months, until August 26.

However, Dr McCauley told gardai that they would "have to have a very good reason" why he should not name a date for the opening of the inquest.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Donegal, Informers, Liam McGinley, MI5, Real IRA

Family celebrates the return of the living dead

Family celebrates the return of the living dead

11 July 2010
Sunday Tribune
Suzanne Breen

For almost 30 years, former IRA informer Raymond Gilmour has been a man in hiding, a traitor to his community. He was sure his loved ones hated him, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Northern Editor Suzanne Breen tells the remarkable story of how an interview in the 'Sunday Tribune' brought the family together again

IRA informer Raymond Gilmour has been reunited with his family after almost three decades of having no contact with them. Gilmour fled his native Derry after giving evidence against 31 men and women in one of the North's best-known supergrass trials. He was resettled by MI5 with a new identity in Britain and, to his distress, lost contact with his family.

However, Gilmour's sister Geraldine Dametz contacted the Sunday Tribune after we carried an interview with him in which he spoke of his problems with alcoholism and depression and of how deeply he missed his 10 brothers and sisters.

Dametz, who now lives in the US, says: "The last time I saw Raymond he was in court giving evidence. I was crying because I wanted him to retract for the sake of our family. I didn't see or speak to him for 27 years but there wasn't a day that passed that I didn't think of him and wonder if he was even alive. It was torture."

Dametz was so desperate to find her brother that she had asked her three children to carry out regular internet searches for their uncle. One of her sons found the Sunday Tribune article.

After we passed Dametz's contact details to Gilmour, he phoned her. "He said, 'Geraldine do you know who this is?' and I said, 'It's you Raymond.' I'd know his voice anywhere. We talked for six hours. It was like we'd never been separated.

"He remembered every little detail about us all. Our family never disowned Raymond. When he gave evidence, it ruined our lives. After the trial, I couldn't continue living in Derry. I had to go to the US and my parents went to England. I can't speak for the rest of the family, but personally I'm very proud of Raymond. If he saved the life of even one Protestant, one Catholic, one policeman or one soldier, then he's my hero."

Gilmour, the youngest in the family, was particularly close to his mother, Dametz says. "As a child, Raymond was like my mother's shadow, he went everywhere with her. She was very anti-violence and anti-IRA - that's where I think he got it from.

"My mother never stopped loving Raymond. I nursed her for three months when she was dying and all she did was talk about him. She wanted to see him one last time. She was heartbroken and it destroyed us seeing her so unhappy.

"Raymond heard she'd died and sent a wreath. He thought we hated him and told the Sunday Tribune that the wreath was probably thrown in the bin. Nothing was further from the truth. Raymond had written on the card, 'From your loving son', and that card was placed in my mother's hands in the coffin."

Gilmour is also now in touch with five of his other brothers and sisters. "He has missed out on so much but it's great that we have contact with him," says Dametz, who lives in New Jersey.

Gilmour's two children to his first wife Lorraine live in Derry. "Raymond has no contact with them. We were able to tell him how they were and that his daughter had twins and he was a grandfather."

Sinn Fein spy Denis Donaldson was shot dead by the Real IRA in Donegal four years ago. Informer Marty McGartland narrowly escaped death in a gun attack after the Provisional IRA found out where he was living in England 11 years ago.

Gilmour would still be a target for dissident republican groups or individual Provisional IRA or INLA members. "I know we won't ever be able to have a big family reunion. I've invited him to my home in New Jersey but it wouldn't be safe for him," says Dametz.

"So I'll travel to wherever he thinks safe, to the ends of the earth if need be, to meet him. Raymond rings me every other day. I leave it to him to contact me. I don't have or want his telephone number or his address."

Gilmour was recruited by the police as a teenager, first to infiltrate the INLA, then the IRA. Dametz says her family's world fell apart when news broke that he was an informer. "We were devastated. We knew we would never be able to see him normally again. He became the living dead."

The IRA abducted Gilmour's father in an attempt to force him to retract his evidence. Gilmour refused but the trial collapsed when the judge said he wasn't a credible witness. Gilmour's father was then released by the IRA.

"A few weeks later, I moved to the US with my two children. I couldn't stay in Derry. Friends I'd grown up with snubbed me. The hostility was so strong I was frightened I'd be physically attacked," says Dametz.

Gilmour's parents moved to England where they lived for six years. During that time, when Gilmour himself was living in Britain, he regularly asked MI5 if he could be put in contact with his mother and father but they said it was impossible.

Gilmour is extremely angry at the intelligence services for denying him this contact. "My mother and father would have met him in a heartbeat," says Dametz.

Informers are widely regarded by the nationalist community as traitors but Dametz states: "Raymond said he did what he did not for money but for principle and I believe him. I say that as someone who is proud to be Irish, who marches with their kids in the parade down Fifth Avenue on St Patrick's Day."

However, Dametz is angry at the IRA and the British. "Both behaved very badly. The IRA abducted my father and made life hell for the rest of us.

"Raymond was recruited by the police when he was 16, far too young to be sure of what he was doing, and then when the British had no more use for him, they threw him to the wolves and didn't look after him."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Informers, MI5

'Dissidents in turmoil' claim

25 March 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

Dissident republicans in Co Tyrone are said to be in 'turmoil' amid reports that a leading member has gone into Garda protective custody. Last week Strabane man Martin Kelly (35) appeared in court in the Republic charged with unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life in February 2008. The charges are linked to the murder of 27-year-old Strabane man Andrew Burns, who was shot dead by Oglaigh Na hEireann in Co Donegal two years ago.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Copeland, Denis Donaldson, Informers, Ireland, Letterkenny, Liam McGinley, MI5, protective custody, PSNI, Real IRA, sledgehammer

the spy who couldn't hide from his past

7 March 2010
The Sunday Life
How Denis Donaldson's treachery led to his lonely, brutal death

A new book lifts the lid on some of the most brutal murders to take place in Ireland in recent years, including the republican murders of south Armagh man Paul Quinn and Sinn Fein spy Denis Donaldson. Over the next four pages, read these exclusive extracts from Revenge: Twenty Cold-Blooded Irish Killings, by author Ken Foxe. ALL Denis Donaldson wanted as his life drew to a close was some "peace and quiet".  The IRA double agent had moved to a pre-Famine era cottage in the wilds of Co Donegal where he lived without central heating or even running water.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Denis Donaldson, Informers, IRA, Ireland, MI5, Northern Ireland, PSNI, Real IRA, Sinn Féin, Special Branch

Murdered man’s family accuse MI5 of harassment

27 February 2010
Belfast Telegraph
Clare Weir

The family of murdered Londonderry man Kieran Doherty have spoken for the first time to demand an inquiry into whether MI5 was involved in his death — and have strongly denied that the 31-year-old was involved in drugs. The statement was issued last night through Derry journalist and campaigner Eamonn McCann. A caller to a newroom in the city claimed that the Real IRA had carried out the attack. “Kieran was not an informer and was in no way involved in drugs,” read the family statement.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Denis Donaldson, Drugs, Informers, Kieran Doherty, MI5, Northern Ireland, PSNI, Real IRA, Sinn Féin

Irish police link death to city dissidents

10 February 2010
Londonderry Sentinel

GARDAI have said they are now satisfied that a Londonderry faction of the Real IRA was behind the murder of former high ranking Sinn Féin member turned informer, Denis Donaldson in County Donegal. Garda intelligence sources believe that he was gunned down by Derry based Real IRA dissidents to cause problems for Sinn Féin within the Stormont administration. the Provisional IRA were initially blamed for Donaldson's murder.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Denis Donaldson, Informers, Letterkenny, MI5, Real IRA

Six-month delay for spy inquest

5 February 2010
The Irish News
Seamus McKinney

The inquest into the death of self-confessed British spy Denis Donaldson has been adjourned for a further six months. Mr Donaldson (56), was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties in west Donegal on April 4 2007. Previously a prominent Sinn Fein figure, the Belfast man had been living in the remote cottage since admitting he had been working as a British agent for many years. His murder was claimed by the Real IRA in the paramilitary organisation's annual Easter message last year.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Copeland, Denis Donaldson, Informers, Letterkenny, Liam McGinley, MI5, Northern Ireland, protective custody, Real IRA, Sinn Féin, sledgehammer

Questions mount as Donaldson inquest adjourned

Questions mount as Donaldson inquest adjourned
4 February 2010
Irish Republican News

The inquest into the death of murdered MI5 agent Denis Donaldson in Donegal almost four years ago was again adjourned in Letterkenny this week.

The former senior Sinn Fein member and one-time friend of Bobby Sands admitted that he had been a paid British informer for 20 years. He subsequently went into hiding in a cottage in Donegal but was shot dead in April 2006 in controversial circumstances.

A preliminary inquest was opened in November 2007. Gardai today requested an adjournment of nine months, but Coroner Dr Denis McAuley granted an adjournment of six months until 26 August.

Donaldson died after being hit by two shotgun blasts as he tried to flee from the early-morning attack.

In November 2007 a preliminary hearing into his death was adjourned after gardai told the coroner that they were considering criminal proceedings.

At that time lawyers for the Donaldsons said the family’s confidence in the Garda investigation had been “severely undermined” by the lack of progress in the case.

The family later lodged official complaints against gardai over concerns that Donaldson had not been properly warned that his life was under threat and over the murder investigation team’s refusal to state whether his cottage had been under electronic surveillance at the time of the shooting.

The inquest was postponed for a second time in May 2008.

It was adjourned for a third time in February 2009 after it was claimed that gardai were following a “new line of inquiry”.

It later emerged that a Letterkenny man, Liam McGinley, had been taken into protective custody in connection with the case.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Denis Donaldson, Liam Campbell, Liam McGinley

New delay to spy's inquest expected

4 February 2010
The Irish News
Barry McCaffrey

An inquest into the death of murdered MI5 agent Denis Donaldson is expected to be adjourned today as gardai are due to request a fourth postponement. The 56-year-old was shot dead by the Real IRA in April 2006 at an isolated cottage at Doochary, Co Donegal, four months after publicly admitting that he had been a British spy inside Sinn Fein for more than 20 years. Donaldson, who had previously been implicated in an IRA spy ring at Stormont, died after being hit by two shotgun blasts as he tried to flee from the early-morning attack.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Co. Donegal, Copeland, Denis Donaldson, Ireland, Letterkenny, Liam McGinley, MI5, protective custody, Real IRA, Sinn Féin, sledgehammer

Murder of Denis Donaldson

Murder of Denis Donaldson - Sinn Fein points finger at British
Barry McCaffrey
6 April 2006
The Irish News
The identity of Denis Donaldson's killers and the reason for his brutal murder last night remained a mystery. It has been speculated that republicans murdered the self-admitted British agent in revenge, although an IRA statement on Tuesday night claimed it was not involved while Sinn Fein leaders appeared to point the finger of suspicion at British intelligence.British involvement in murder in the Republic can be traced back to May 1974 when the UVF exploded three car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, killing 33 people and injuring dozens of others.

Continue Reading... Labels: British Special Forces, Colin Wallace, Collusion, Denis Donaldson, Dublin bombing, Informers, IRA, Ireland, Littlejohn Brothers, MI5, Monaghan bombing, Northern Ireland, Real IRA, Sinn Féin, Special Branch

SF man an informer for 20 years

Stormontgate - SF man an informer for 20 years
Sharon O'Neill, Brian McCaffrey and William Graham
17 December 2005
The Irish News
Sinn Fein yesterday sensationally expelled Denis Donaldson from the party for allegedly spying on republicans for the British government.

Continue Reading... Labels: British Special Forces, Denis Donaldson, Informers, IRA, Ireland, Littlejohn Brothers, MI5, Northern Ireland, protective custody, PSNI, Sinn Féin, Special Branch

Spies, lies and ways to quell terrorism

2 August 2009
The Sunday Times
Liam Clarke

Martin McGartland, the former RUC agent within the IRA, recently told me of an attempt to get counselling after he was resettled in England. McGartland, it will be remembered, was code-named Agent Carol and escaped from an IRA interrogation squad by jumping from a third-storey window. Later he was tracked down to the northeast of England, shot and seriously wounded before he managed to fight off his attacker. This and the strain of living a lie under an assumed identity away from his family left him traumatised and one day he got his doctor to refer him to a psychiatrist for counselling.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2009, Brighton bomb, Collusion, Covert Human Intelligence Sources, Denis Donaldson, Informers, IRA, Margaret Thatcher, MI5, Northern Ireland, PSNI, Real IRA, Sinn Féin, Special Branch

Man may testify against Real IRA

23 June 2009
Derry Journal

A Donegal man who was shot by dissident republicans has offered to testify in court against members of the Real IRA from Derry. Security sources in the Republic have said that Liam McGinley, a Letterkenny man, has named the men who shot former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson and is prepared to testify against republicans.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2009, Co. Donegal, Copeland, Denis Donaldson, Ireland, Letterkenny, Liam McGinley, MI5, Real IRA