Senior IRA figure appointed to top Sinn Féin job

A senior IRA figure has been appointed as head of Sinn Féin's operations in Belfast in a move apparently designed to show that the IRA's structures are being dismantled.

Bobby Storey was named by an Ulster Unionist MP in the House of Commons in January 2005 as the IRA's head of intelligence.

He was closely involved in the IRA'as mass breakout from the Maze in 1983 and his home was also raided after the Northern Bank robbery, though there is no evidence he was involved.

Mr Storey is now chair of the Sinn Féin executive in Belfast and will be responsible for developing support for the police and courts.