Posted on 04/04/2006 12:57:14 PM PDT by elc
DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland (AP) -- A former senior official of Sinn Fein recently exposed as a British spy has been found fatally shot in northwest Ireland, police said Tuesday -- an act certain to send shock waves through Northern Ireland's peace process at a critical moment.
Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's anti-terrorist police for the previous two decades. He then went into hiding -- because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death.
The IRA quickly denied responsibility Tuesday evening.
Ireland's national police said it was not clear whether Donaldson, 55, had been killed or had taken his own life. Police said the scene around his body in Glenties, County Donegal, was cordoned off for a forensic examination that was expected to run into Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yeah man I saw it. Cool film, reminds me of the time I spent at Uni in Boston. Great city...
Are you saying its a good thing the man was murdered for being a UK spy?
Thats a bit dodgy man...
Glenties! That's getting very close to home for me!
Then you do have sympathy for a campaign of terrorism that lasted decades. You have sympathy for the terrorists who bombed my home town in the UK and killed a couple of little kids. Or that blew up whole blocks of Manchester in the 80's. Who tried to murder the UK's PM twice. Who attacked Canary Wharf etc etc...
The man has ended up giving his life to ensure a peace of sorts exists in Northern Ireland. And you castigate him for being a 'doublecross'? I would phrase your words carefully mate, cos for those who have suffered at the hand of IRA terrorism it isnt a subject to taken lightly or with any mirth.
Yes, in our own country - the b@st@rds!
He was informing on a terrorist group, I mourn his loss.
Sorry, all my IRA information I got from a couple friends at work, very proud of the fact that their family was involved in a big fight, (possibly bloody Sunday?) and another good friend likes that his grandparents had to flee Ireland because of something involving leaving before they got arrested back in the day.
Had a knee-jerk reaction to anyone spying on Ireland, until I remembered IRA=bad.
Either way, hanging around Glenties, after having been exposed as an informer, was suicide.
Thats cool man. But your mates at work need a chat. There have been many 'big fights' during The Troubles, and to be proud of the idea that ones family were involved in an attack against British troops is very, very sad. The man wasn't spying against Ireland anyway. He was spying against the IRA which is something very different, unless they are considered the heart and soul of the emerald isle....
Like I said before I don't agree with the IRA (their goals or methods). I was simply stating that it probably wasn't wise to publicly admit his spying and expect the IRA not to take action.
What I'm wondering is why, if this man was really a spy for the British for so long, when his cover was blown he wasn't given a new identity somewhere outside of Ireland as has been done with other agents. Ever heard of Martin McGartland? He was in an IRA cell for years but when his cover was blown they got him out immediately. Donaldson was a fool to believe he'd escaped the nutting squad.
Yeah thats a good one. Who knows. One could say the British Security forces had nothing left to gain from him, so felt no need to help the man out.
Another could say, as has been suggested in the news, that the man was offered assistance, and he refused it. I think he may have just been tired with all of it, and didn't want to run anymore. I cannot fathom the pressure he was under, and the circumstances that found him in such a position. The man had it rough.
I will say that the media didnt do him any favours in 'outing' him, and they have to bear some responsibility in this.
I guess he made a same mistake Veronica Guerin did - the Gardai also warned her that her life was in danger from the Dublin criminal gangs, but she laughed it off.
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