A former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, who was an agent for the British security services, has alleged that Gerry Adams, leader of the second-largest political party in Northern Ireland, ordered the killing of a British spy in 2006. The former agent was referring to the killing of Denis Donaldson, a senior member of the Provisional IRA, who was found dead months after it was revealed that he had been secretly spying on the republican organization on behalf of British intelligence.
In December 2005, Adams announced at a
press conference in Dublin, Ireland, that Donaldson had been a spy for
the British government inside the Provisional IRA and its political
wing, Sinn Féin. Soon after Adams’ revelation, Donaldson read a prepared
statement on Ireland’s RTÉ television station, admitting that he had
been recruited as a spy by the British Security Service (MI5) and the
Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (known today as the
Police Service of Northern Ireland). Following his public admission,
Donaldson was nowhere to be found. However, in March 2006, a reporter
for a British tabloid newspaper found Donaldson living in a remote
farmhouse in Northern Ireland’s County Donegal. Weeks later, Donaldson
was shot dead in his cottage by persons unknown. In 2009, the Real IRA, a
Provisional IRA splinter group that disagreed with the Good Friday
Agreement and subsequent cessation of hostilities, took responsibility for Donaldson’s killing.
On Tuesday, a man who claims he was an
informant for British intelligence inside Sinn Féin and the Provisional
IRA alleged that Donaldson’s killing was ordered by Adams himself. The
man, who spoke on the BBC’s Spotlight program, could not be identified due to concerns about his personal safety. He said
during a televised interview that he knew from his “experience in the
IRA that murders have to be approved by […] the leadership of the IRA
and the military leadership of the IRA”. When asked by the report who he
was “specifically referring to”, the former informant answered: “Gerry
Adams. He gives the final say”. On Wednesday, Adams denied any
involvement in the killing, saying he wished to “specifically and
categorically refute these unsubstantiated allegations”. The leader of
Sinn Féin went on to claim that the accusations against him were “part
of the British security agencies’ ongoing attempts to smear republicans
and cover-up their own actions”. Adams’ lawyer said late on Wednesday
that his client was considering launching a lawsuit against the BBC for
defamation.
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