Are the leaders of the IRA and Sinn Fein working for the UK security services?

"Down through the years republicans have been unmasked as agents. Many died - their bodies dumped on the border... However, the last one survived. Freddie Scappaticci, deputy head of the IRA`s internal security unit, was unmasked as an alleged British agent - accused of being Stakeknife - in 2003." http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=68362&pt=n

"The Kincora Scandal first broke on 3 April 1980 when three staff members of the Kincora Boys Home, Belfast, were charged with acts of gross indecency. Allegations continued to be made that elements of the security service, civil servants and a number of Loyalists had been involved in the abuse of young boys at Kincora." CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1982

The following is taken from UTV:

http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=68362&pt=n

In a dramatic twist, Mr Donaldson, Sinn Fein`s former head of administration at Stormont, was expelled from the party as he owned up to working for British intelligence and the Royal Ulster Constabulary/Police Service of Northern Ireland Special Branch.

The 55-year-old echoed Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and said he did not believe there was a republican spy ring at Stormont.

"I was not involved in any republican spy ring in Stormont. The so-called Stormontgate affair was a scam and a fiction, it never existed, it was created by Special Branch," he said in a statement last night."I deeply regret my activities with British intelligence and RUC/PSNI special branch. I apologise to anyone who has suffered as a result of my activities as well as to my former comrades and especially to my family who have become victims in all of this."

Mr Donaldson approached a senior Sinn Fein official yesterday after being warned by the PSNI he was going to be exposed publicly as an agent and his life was in danger.

After the latest twist to the controversy over a spy ring, Mr Donaldson abandoned his home in Belfast for Dublin amid concerns about his safety.

In the statement he issued from a Dublin hotel, he said: "I was recruited in the 1980s after compromising myself during a vulnerable time in my life.

"Since then I have worked for British intelligence and the RUC/PSNI Special Branch. Over that period I was paid money."

His sensational expulsion from the party followed the controversial decision last week by the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland to withdraw a case against Mr Donaldson and two other men who were accused of being part of a spy ring at Stormont which led to the collapse of the power sharing executive three years ago.

In October 2002, he was arrested and charged with having documents likely to be of use to terrorists.His arrest, along with that of his son-in-law and a civil servant, became known as Stormontgate - a republican spy ring at the heart of government.

After the searches and allegations, the Northern Ireland Secretary moved to suspend devolution to stave off a unionist walkout on power sharing.

After the Public Prosecution Service dropped the case nine days ago, Mr Donaldson and Mr Adams moved to insist there was no republican spy ring at Stormont.

However, last night party leader Mr Adams admitted a different spying operation had gone on within the ranks of his own party.

Unionists have been calling for British Prime Minister Blair and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain to issue a statement explaining why the Public Prosecution Service withdrew the court case involving Mr Donaldson.

Nationalist SDLP deputy leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell said: "We suspected that the public interest argument was a way of covering up for an informer. We don`t know whether Denis Donaldson was that particular informer.There is the distinct possibility, like so many cases in the past, that he is being used as a scapegoat to cover someone else."

Mr Adams revealed he suspected there had been an informer within Sinn Fein`s ranks after the offices were raided in the police operation at Stormont.He claimed his suspicions heightened when the British failed to prosecute the three men arrested.

Down through the years republicans have been unmasked as agents. Many died - their bodies dumped on the border with an IRA bullet in the head.However, the last one survived. Freddie Scappaticci, deputy head of the IRA`s internal security unit, was unmasked as an alleged British agent - accused of being Stakeknife - in 2003. He denied the claim before he left Northern Ireland amid fears for his life.

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http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=10526-qqqx=1.asp

There was speculation yesterday that Donaldson's exposure as a police agent may have been planned to give cover to someone more useful to British Intelligence...

One of the tasks facing Adams and McGuinness in the coming days will be to reassure republicans and ease tensions within the ranks.

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