The British Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, today denied there was any political interference in the decision by prosecutors in Northern Ireland to drop charges against three men accused of spying at Stormont.

Political parties must move on from the Stormont spying controversy to focus on restoring devolved government to the North, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said tonight.

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams today said speculation more spies could be unearthed within the party may be coming from some elements within the British intelligence service.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and his national executive will gather in Dublin today for the first time since one of their colleagues was exposed as a British agent.

Sinn Féin today vigorously disputed police claims that republicans operated a spy ring at Stormont which led to the collapse three years ago of devolution and the unmasking of one of their members as a British agent.

Sinn Féin was accused of politicising policing today as the Northern Ireland chief constable gave a robust defence of his officers’ handling of the Stormont spying scandal.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will hold crisis talks with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams today following the unmasking of a trusted aide to the West Belfast MP as a British spy.

Dissident elements within the British security services are undermining progress made by the IRA during the peace process, Gerry Adams has warned.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain today defended a police operation against republicans which brought down devolution in the North three years ago and led to the exposure of a Sinn Féin official as a British spy.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams (pictured) should quit in the wake of spying allegations which have rocked his party, a leading SDLP member claimed today.

The British government was tonight challenged to launch a public inquiry into the Stormontgate affair after a top Republican official, who admitted he was a British agent, said the matter had been “a scam and a fiction” invented by UK intelligence.

A top republican was thrown out of Sinn Féin tonight after its leader Gerry Adams alleged he was working as a British agent.

NORTHERN Secretary Peter Hain yesterday dismissed as “preposterous” any suggestion that the dropping of charges against republicans accused of operating an alleged IRA spy ring at Stormont had been politically motivated.

A SINN FÉIN official who had charges dropped against him over a republican spy ring at Stormont claimed that police arrested him as part of a campaign to save David Trimble’s political career.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern expressed his bafflement today at the collapse of the Stormont spying trial.

A Sinn Féin official who had charges dropped against him over a republican spy ring at Stormont claimed today that police arrested him as part of a campaign to save David Trimble’s political career.

THE acquittal in Belfast of three men accused of operating a spy ring at Stormont shows the spirit of the RUC’s Special Branch still exists, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness said yesterday.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain faced demands tonight from the Rev Ian Paisley for a meeting over the dropping of charges against three men accused of operating a republican spy ring at Stormont.

A man arrested as part of a PSNI investigation into an alleged IRA spy plot at government offices in Belfast today accused the North's Special Branch of threatening the Good Friday Agreement.

Northern Ireland Office messenger William Mackessy, who is facing criminal charges over allegations of spying for the IRA, had been the subject of a previous investigation, it was disclosed tonight.

A FORMER Government porter at the centre of a suspected IRA spy ring copied top security papers on Northern Ireland’s most senior army officer, a court heard yesterday.

A former British government porter at the centre of a suspected IRA spy ring copied top security papers on Northern Ireland’s most senior army officer, a court heard today.

A former government messenger was today due in court after being charged by detectives probing a suspected IRA spy operation in the Northern Ireland Office.