SF man confirms he was British spy

A top republican who headed Sinn Féin’s Stormont offices, tonight confirmed he was a British agent for two decades.

Denis Donaldson, a 55-year-old former head of administration at Stormont, said he was recruited in the 1980s as a paid agent.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams announced today he had thrown him out of the party after he admitted working for the British security services for 20 years.

Mr Donaldson said he deeply regretted his activities.

In a statement to RTÉ News tonight, Mr Donaldson said: !I was not involved in any republican spy ring in Stormont. The so-called Stormontgate affair was a scam and a fiction, it never existed, it was created by Special Branch.

"I deeply regret my activities with British intelligence and RUC PSNI special branch. I apologise to anyone who has suffered as a result of my activities as well as to my former comrades and especially to my family who have become victims in all of this."