Paisley demands British govt statement on Stormontgate

Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley is demanding a statement from the British government explaining the so-called Stormontgate affair.

London has so far failed to provide any explanation of the collapse of the case against the three men accused of involvement in an alleged IRA 'spy ring' at Stormont.

The three, who included Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson, were charged following a high-profile PSNI raid on the republican party's offices in October 2002.

They were accused of possessing and collecting information likely to be of use to paramilitaries.

The charges led directly to the collapse of the North's power-sharing institutions, which were suspended by the British government to prevent a unionist walkout in protest at the alleged IRA espionage.

However, they were dropped last week , prompting accusations from Sinn Féin that the case was designed deliberately to collapse the Assembly.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain came under intense questioning on the matter from reporters yesterday, but he refused to say anything except that the charges were dropped in the public interest.

The DUP isn't satisfied with this and Dr Paisley is now vowing to demand a full statement in the House of Commons later this week.