Denis Donaldson (left) pictured with Bobby Sands

Denis Martin Donaldson (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1950 – April 4, 2006 in Donegal, Republic of Ireland) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Sinn Féin who was exposed in December 2005 as an informer in the employ of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary). Image File history File links Sands-donaldson. ... Image File history File links Sands-donaldson. ... Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish republican and a former MP who died on hunger strike in the prison officially called HM Prison Maze but formerly known as Long Kesh (a name still used by Irish Republicans). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Main language English Other recognised languages Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Donegal (Dún na nGall in Irish) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the RA is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation dedicated to the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and to a United Ireland. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London The Security Service, usually called MI5, is the British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... Special Branch is the arm of the British, Irish and many Commonwealth police forces that deals with national security matters. ... The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

Political career

Donaldson had a long history of involvement in Irish republicanism. According to his former friend, Jim Gibney, writing in the Irish News, he was a local hero in Short Strand in 1970 because he took part in the IRA's defense of St. Matthew's chapel against a concerted loyalist attack. Irish Republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... The Irish News is the only quality newspaper published in Northern Ireland. ... The Short Strand is an area in eastern inner-city Belfast, in Northern Ireland. ... The acronym IRA may refer to: Irish Republican Army See also List of IRAs Irish Republican Army, the self-proclaimed Army of the Irish Republic that fought the Irish War of Independence against British rule, 1916 - 1921 Irish Republican Army (1922-1969): Originally the Anti-Treaty or Republican side in... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be or The Establishment. ...

He was a friend of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. The two men served time together in Long Kesh in the 1970s.-1... Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish republican and a former MP who died on hunger strike in the prison officially called HM Prison Maze but formerly known as Long Kesh (a name still used by Irish Republicans). ... Her Majestys Prison (HMP) Maze (known colloqually as The Maze) is a disused prison sited at the former RAF station at Long Kesh (it is still called Long Kesh by many Irish Republicans) near Lisburn, nine miles outside Belfast, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. ...

In 1981 he was arrested by French authorities at the airport at Orly along with fellow IRA volunteer, William "Blue" Kelly. The duo were using false passports and Donaldson said that they were returning from a training camp in Lebanon. At the 1983 general election, Donaldson was the Sinn Féin candidate in Belfast East. Orly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. ... The UK general election, 1983 was held on June 9, 1983 and gave the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ...

In the late 1980s, he travelled to Lebanon again and held talks with both Hezbollah and the Amal militia in an effort to secure the freedom of the Irish hostage Brian Keenan. He also represented Sinn Féin in the United States, isolating future hard-line dissidents such as Bronx-based Irish-American attorney, Martin Galvin. Galvin later claimed that he had warned the republican leadership that he suspected Donaldson of being an agent.[1] The Hezbollah flag Hezbollah (Arabic ‮حزب الله‬, meaning Party of God) is a Shia Islamist group in Lebanon founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon. ... Brian Keenan (born 1950 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish writer whose work includes the book An Evil Cradling, an account of the five years he spent as a hostage in the Lebanon. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ...

In the early 2000s, Donaldson was appointed Sinn Féin's Northern Ireland Assembly group administrator in Parliament Buildings. In October 2002, he was arrested in a raid on the Sinn Féin offices as part of a high-profile police investigation into an alleged Irish republican spy-ring — the so-called Stormontgate espionage affair. The logo of the Northern Ireland Assembly is a six flowered linen or flax plant, chosen for the plants historical economic importance to the region. ... Parliament Buildings of Northern Ireland, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast, served as the seat of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and successive Northern Ireland assemblies and conventions. ... Irish Republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... Stormontgate is the name given to the controversy surrounding an alleged Provisional Irish Republican Army spy-ring based in Stormont, the parliament building of Northern Ireland. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

British agent

Donaldson was recruited as a spy by British intelligence in the 1980s. He was paid for his information. According to the Irish Republican News e-mail bulletin he was an IRA intelligence officer in the mid-1980s.

In December 2005, the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland dropped the spy-ring charges against Donaldson and two other men on the grounds that it would not be in the "public interest" to proceed with the case. The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI) is the department of the government of Norther Ireland responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in Northern Ireland. ...

On December 16, 2005, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams announced to a press conference in Dublin that Donaldson had been a spy in the pay of British intelligence. This was confirmed by Donaldson in a statement which he read out on RTÉ, the Irish state broadcaster, shortly afterwards. December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gerry Adams Gerry Adams MP, MLA, (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for West Belfast. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; Irish for Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of Ireland. ...

He stated that he was recruited after compromising himself during a vulnerable time in his life ([2]), but did not specify why he was vulnerable or why he would risk his life as a "tout" (British spy) in an area such as West Belfast. A common method of recruitment is seduction and subsequent blackmail, so this is a likely possibility.

Donaldson's daughter Jane is married to Ciaran Kearney who was arrested along with Donaldson in the Stormontgate affair. The couple had two young daughters at the time of the arrest. Kearney is a son of the "civil rights" and MacBride Principles campaigner, Oliver Kearney. [3]

On March 19, 2006, Hugh Jordan, a journalist for the Sunday World tracked him down to an isolated pre-famine cottage near Glenties, County Donegal. The dwelling had not been modernised and so there was no running water or electricity, and Donaldson chopped his own firewood ([4]). March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. ... Starvation during the famine The Irish Potato Famine, also called The Great Famine or The Great Hunger (Irish: An Gorta Mór), is the name given to a famine which struck Ireland between 1846 and 1849. ... Glenties (Irish: Na Gleanntaí meaning The Glens) is a small town in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: coord}}}_N_{{{west coord}}}_W_{{{region:IE_type:city}}} {{{north coord}}}° N {{{west coord}}}° W Irish Grid Reference grid}}} {{{irish grid}}} Statistics Province: Ulster County: District: County Town: Lifford Code: DL Area: 4,841 km² Elevation: Population: Website: www. ...

Donaldson was the latest in a string of agents found to be in senior position in the PIRA or Sinn Féin. Previous confirmed cases of infiltration include: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ...

• Sean O'Callaghan, the alleged head of the IRA's Southern Command who worked with the Garda Síochána, and later with MI5.

• Alfredo Scappaticci, the agent known as Stakeknife. An Italian-Irish native of republican West Belfast, Scappaticci was a British Military Intelligence agent during the IRA campaign. He denied being Stakeknife. He was the second in command of the IRA's Internal Security Unit, an elite group of IRA Volunteers who sought out, interrogated and executed suspected informers.

Sean OCallaghan is a former senior member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who turned informer for the Garda Síochána (the Irish police) and who was later debriefed by the UKs MI5 in the Netherlands. ... Badge of the Garda Síochána. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London The Security Service, usually called MI5, is the British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... Alfredo (Freddie) Scappaticci was accused in the Irish media on 11 May 2003, of being the high-level double agent in the PIRA, known by the codename Steakknife. ... Steakknife (sometimes written as Steak knife or incorrectly as Stakeknife[1]) is the code name of a spy who infiltrated the Provisional IRA, at a high level, as a double agent working for the top secret British Force Research Unit. ...

Death

On April 4, 2006, Donaldson was found shot dead inside a remote cottage, where he had been living for several months. The extended Donaldson family had used it as a holiday retreat for several years. Gardaí said they had been aware of his presence since January and they had warned him of a threat to his life. They had offered him protection and exchanged phone numbers with him. The cottage was located in the townland of Classey, 8 km from village of Glenties on the road to Doochary, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Glenties (Irish: Na Gleanntaí meaning The Glens) is a small town in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: coord}}}_N_{{{west coord}}}_W_{{{region:IE_type:city}}} {{{north coord}}}° N {{{west coord}}}° W Irish Grid Reference grid}}} {{{irish grid}}} Statistics Province: Ulster County: District: County Town: Lifford Code: DL Area: 4,841 km² Elevation: Population: Website: www. ...

The last person he is believed to have spoken to, apart from his killer(s) is Tim Cranley, a census taker, who spoke to him in the cottage around 8.30 p.m. on April 3. His body was found by Gardaí about 5 p.m. after a passerby reported seeing a broken window and a smashed in door. Chief Superintendant Terry McGinn, the local Garda Commander, said that the cottage belonged to Donaldson's "son in law Ciaran Kearney" and that members of his family had been visiting him in the days before his death.

A statement by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, referred to his death as a "barbaric act", while Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern condemned "the brutal murder" of Donaldson. Two shotgun cartridges were found at the threshold of the cottage and a post mortem revealed that he had died from a shotgun blast to the chest. (Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell initially said that Donaldson had been shot in the head. [5]) He was dressed for bed when he died. The first two shots were fired through the front door, apparently as he attempted to bolt it, and the second two hit him as he retreated into the cottage. The Right Honourable Peter Gerald Hain (born February 16, 1950 in Nairobi, Kenya) is a British Labour Party politician. ... Patrick Bartholomew Ahern (Irish name: Pádraig Parthalán Ó hEachthairn) (born 12 September 1951), commonly called Bertie Ahern, is an Irish politician. ... The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the senior minister at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt, Comhionannais agus Athchóirithe Dlí) in the Irish Government. ... Michael McDowell (pronounced McDool) (born May, 1951) is a senior Irish Progressive Democrats politician. ...

His right hand was also badly damaged by gunshot. The Provisional IRA issued a one-line statement saying that it had "no involvement whatsoever" with the murder. The murder was also condemned by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. The Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley blamed republicans for the killing, saying that "eyes will be turned towards IRA/Sinn Féin on this issue". Gerry Adams Gerry Adams MP, MLA, (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for West Belfast. ... For other political parties named Democratic Unionist Party, see Democratic Unionist Party (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Sources

• Denis Donaldson: Profile, The Irish Times, 17 December 2005 (subscription required).
• The spy at the heart of the IRA, The Sunday Times, 18 December, 2005.
• [6] Irish Republican News 20 December 2005. (subscription required)
• Sinn Féin British agent shot dead — BBC News reports on his death
• [7] Statement by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on circumstances of death.