An IRA group which was killed during an ambush by the SAS in the Co Armagh village of Loughgall in 1987 was responsible for up to 50 murders, secret government documents have revealed.

SAS soldiers who shot dead eight IRA men and a bystander as they attacked a police station in the North acted excessively, a lawyer for the bereaved claimed.

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell tonight warned trust was being eroded after two former IRA men were arrested with another man following the hijacking of a lorry load of vodka in Co Meath.

FORMER associates of a feared IRA assassin killed by the SAS may have murdered Denis Donaldson, security sources claim.

Former associates of a feared IRA assassin killed by the SAS may have murdered Denis Donaldson, it emerged today.