Donaldson murder - Renegades must not hinder peace

There has been considerable speculation about who was behind the murder of Denis Donaldson this week. Any number of people could have been behind the killing for their own perverse reasons. Suspicion has focused on various groups.

It could have been maverick republicans, seeking revenge, or trying to disrupt the peace process. “Those who carried out this murder are clearly opposed to the peace process,” Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams declared.

He and Martin McGuinness denounced the killing and disassociated themselves from it in very strong terms, but Mr Adams has also denied that he was ever a member of the Provisional IRA. In the Donaldson case, Mr Adams is already on record as saying that the former spy was not under any threat from republicans.

This inevitably tends to bring into question the extent to which he actually speaks for the broad stream of republicans.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny noted the Provisional IRA declared that they had no involvement in the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, the Northern Bank raid, or the murder of Robert McCartney, but in each instance it is now apparent they were involved up to their necks. This is unfortunate, because Sinn Féin has become ensnared in its own tangled web of deceit.

Of course, none of this should be allowed to deflect attention from the fact that the murder, which apparently involved torture, was a particularly cold, calculated and savage crime that strikes at the heart of civilised society.

The gardaí had warned Denis Donaldson that he was likely to be in danger.

He refused to move for his own safety, but the gardaí clearly realised that a real threat existed, because they gave his house “passing attention”, according to the Taoiseach.

This begs the question why more was not done in the run up to this week’s talks?

Regardless of who may have been responsible for this butchery, it should not have required a great deal of foresight to take extra precautions in recent days.

Such precautions may not have saved Denis Donaldson, but might have facilitated efforts to trace his killers. The gardaí must now do everything necessary to apprehend the culprits.

Unless the two governments show real resolve, the people most likely to gain most from this despicable affair are the opponents of the peace process.

The Democratic Unionists will inevitably exploit the Donaldson killing for their own intransigent ends, which may well have been a calculated factor in the timing of the killing. Extremists on both sides have long been feeding off the intransigence of each other.

It is therefore imperative the two governments not allow the Donaldson killing to deflect their attention from efforts to get the Good Friday Agreement back on track.

Ironically the process fell apart because of the supposed spying of Denis Donaldson for Sinn Féin at Stormont, but now we know that he was actually spying for British intelligence.

Progress in the peace process has been tortuously slow, but it has nevertheless been significant. Fortunately only a tiny demented few seem to be in favour of a return to violence. Those vile elements responsible for the Donaldson murder must not be allowed to succeed.