Ahern: 'Stormontgate' will not hold up peace process

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has vowed that the so-called Stormontgate scandal will not hold up the peace process in the North.

Politicians on both sides of the divide are still reeling from the revelation that leading Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson has been a British spy since the 1980s.

Mr Donaldson was charged two years ago in connection with an alleged IRA spy ring inside Stormont Buildings, but the case against him and his two co-accused was dropped earlier this month.

That case led directly to the collapse of the North's power-sharing institutions, with the British government suspending devolution to prevent a walkout by unionists.

Speaking after talks with Northern Secretary Peter Hain yesterday evening, Mr Ahern said people were confused and wanted more information, but the Irish and British governments would not be distracted from the work of pushing forward the peace process.