Government to supply documentation.

Ultimately no original documents were released at all. Instead, after more than a year of requests, the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, John Reid, forwarded a 10-page letter which included a number of selective quotes from intelligence reports but no original documents whatsoever.

Justice Barron outlined how the need to see original documentation was stressed many times without success. Commenting on the failure of the British to hand over documentation, Justice Barron concluded the scope of his report had been limited as a result.

“Though the principle of protecting the life and security of intelligence agents is genuine, there is a lack of logic in the way in which it has been applied by the Northern Ireland office,” he wrote.