Irish hacking victims possible

AN Irish journalist whose phone may have been hacked by the News of the World after he wrote a book on Provisional IRA informer “Stakeknife” has insisted there are more victims in this country.

Speaking after investigating police confirmed his details were found in notes at the centre of the investigation, Greg Harkin said he is in no doubt the scandal involves other Irish people.

“There are others. There is no way we are the only ones,” he told reporters.

Mr Harkin has previously written articles for the News of the World.

He allegedly had his phone hacked after writing the book in 2004 with a British intelligence officer who was previously based in the North.

It is also alleged that some of his emails were intercepted during this period, although it is not yet confirmed whether this is related to phone hacking.

The other Irish person whom British police have contacted over fears they were also targeted is Seán Cassidy, the father of 7/7 London bombing victim Ciarán.

The six-year anniversary of the terrorist attack which killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers, took place yesterday.

Among those in Britain to have allegedly been hacked include murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the families of the Soham child murder victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, a police family-liaison officer, relatives of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan and a lawyer involved in Princess Diana’s inquest.

Meanwhile, a former journalist with the News of the World — who worked in Ireland for a period — has claimed the phone hacking “tactics” used by the media outlet in Britain “didn’t stop at national borders”.

Paul McMullan is a former deputy features editor at the newspaper.

He has given a number of controversial interviews since the scandal emerged, defending phone hacking in certain circumstances.

When asked by presenters on Newstalk’s The Breakfast Show if phone hacking also took place in the Irish edition of the newspaper, Mr McMullan said: “There were many stories in the Irish edition that used the same tactics, they would have been no different.”

The issues emerged after Labour senator John Gilroy told the Irish Examiner his government colleagues need to open a full investigation into any possible phone hacking in Ireland in the wake of the revelations in Britain.