Murder 'bid to damage peace process'

The murder of former IRA member and British spy Denis Donaldson is an attempt to damage the peace process, Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said today.

The 56-year old was found shot dead in a remote cottage near Glenties in County Donegal, where he had been living with no electricity or mains water supply, after being ostracised by former republican comrades.

“We’re seeing the Donaldson murder as a clear attempt by somebody to damage the political process,” said Mr McGuinness.

He added that most people, except the Democratic Unionist Party, were taking a sensible approach and not blaming the IRA for the murder.

“Most people, logically sitting back and looking at it, would say ‘It’s hardly likely the IRA would take these enormous initiatives and then move on to do something stupid like attack Denis Donaldson’.”

He added: “At the moment, we don’t have any clue or notion whatsoever about who’s responsible. And I think it’s unfortunate that those who are opposed to progress in the peace and political process have seized on this in a highly opportunistic way.”

Mr Donaldson, Sinn Féin’s former head of administration, was arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2002 after he was accused of running an IRA spy ring at the heart of the Stormont government. The affair led to the collapse of power- sharing in the North.

But at a press conference attended by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams last December, Mr Donaldson admitted he had been a British spy for more than 20 years.

The IRA issued a statement yesterday denying any involvement in his murder.

Mr McGuinness, who was in Dublin to meet Irish Government officials, said the party knew Mr Donaldson’s life had been under threat.

“I don’t think anyone would have ruled out, given the predicament in which Denis Donaldson had placed himself and his family, and indeed Sinn Fein, the prospect that some malign influence would attempt to do something about it.”

He praised the decision of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to go ahead with tomorrow’s meeting in Armagh to launch their road map for reviving devolution in the North.

“We cannot be diverted or deflected from any of that. We have to press on because it is the overwhelming desire of all of the people of this island, including, I believe, a majority in the North, that we see political progress.”