Sinn Fein offices raided in IRA probe

Sinn Fein’s offices at Stormont were raided today as part of a major police investigation into the IRA in Belfast.

Documents were seized and a number of men were detained in a series of searches throughout the north and west of the city.

Among those held was Denis Donaldson, the head of the administration team at Parliament Buildings, a party spokesman said.

Up to 200 police officers were involved in the operation.

A police spokeswoman said: “Police are investigating activities of republicans terrorists in Belfast.”

The raid on Stormont was unprecedented and appeared to confirm the scale of the new inquiry.

But security sources insisted that today’s searches and seizures were not connected to the investigation probe into the theft of intelligence files at Castlereagh police station last March.