dead spy

[brionon]

A Dublin newspaper tracked him down, no newspaper in England nor the BBC have,so far as I'm aware, condemned the Reporters who did this. All buddies sticking together ?

[Loosehead]

reporters will sell their granny for a story, they don't care if people die.

[chazza]

I dont think the reporters are to blame for this, I believe it was a matter of time before he was murdered. He was Gerry Adam's right hand man for 20 years and was stabbing him in the back all the time!? I think it is a wonder he survived as long as he did!

[dropgoal3]

in all fareness it is a reporters job to get these reports also is it not the right of a free speech country to tell people.

It was his choice also to own up to this and he new the risks I am not saying that any reporter has any morals whatso ever.

[Drusilla1S]

The hypocrisy of the modern press never surprises me. They were quite prepared to put this man's life in danger by revealing his whereabouts, but The News of the World has sought an injunction against George Galloway publishing the identity of their notorious 'Fake Sheik' reporter.
Which identity really required protection?

[youngmafbog]

He was the walking dead from the minute it got out. Why was he still in Ireland though ? Seems insane.

Reporters (of any newspaper or media) dont give a monkeys. They detach themselves from reality, probably part of a self preservation thing.

[brachiopod]

What 'public interest' did it really serve, dropgoal? What was your 'right to know'?

[dropgoal3]

so now we should be told what we can and cant find out he still chose to admit it

[noxlumos]

Whilst I have little or no time for the gutter press, it's slightly misleading to assume that Dennis Donaldson was in hiding and that his death was the result of his location being made public by a reporter. The IRA are quite capable of tracking him down had he been, and he would have known that, hence he decided to keep himself tucked away quietly and wait for the furore to die down doubtless as he had been told to do.At the moment there is far too much to lose for the IRA to risk taking him out, although they may well have done so in the fullness of time.

Whoever killed him has the hidden agenda of wanting the peace talks in the north to fail so it'd be wiser to look to the Loyalists if you really want to see who might have been responsible and tracking him down would have been no problem for them either.Predictably Ian Paiseley is having his usual rant full of righteous indignation using this as an excuse for refusing to co-operate with the forthcoming move forward towards the forming of an exectutive.

Dennis Donaldson is dead because he couldn't decide which side of the fence he should sit on and tried to be too clever for his own good.No-one respects a man with double standards and he becomes a target for everyone and expendable to all. You can scarecely blame a half witted journalist for the man's deep personality flaws and the fact that people used him because they had no respect for him and that he ultimately died as a result of that.

[mullein3]

well said noxlumos...its easy for everyone to point fingers at the obviouse..when their are things involved they dont understand..

[Drisgirl]

Well said Nox - I couldnt have put it more succinctly.I was reading the posts before yours and was thinking - do you really think the press outed this man?People underestimate the subterfuge which is still alive and well in Ireland.The press are small fry.

Anything to report?

[THECORBYLOON]

The Gardai offered Donaldson protection which he refused. He may have tried to keep himsel to himsel but with all the publicity surrounding him it would have been difficult to keep the location a secret and no doubt he knew his days were numbered..

[Dom Tuk]

To propose that the loyalists may have anything to gain by killing the spy is stretching the conspiracy double bluff theory to the extreme. He was in effect working for them and their British masters. Oh no he should have been their hero and every day he lived was a insult to the republican, political or revolutionary. The fact that he was trotured and mutilated before he was killed indicates that he was asked for information about any other moles within the IRA and its political branches.

I am still unclear though as to why the spy outed himslef. From my recollection of events last year, there was a claim by the Sinn Fein that they were being wire tapped during talks, The govt ordered an enquiry which was scrapped as it probably uncovered the spy and the findings were not released due to public interest. That should have been that. Why then did the spy come out. The british masters did not out him and it could never have been proven. Can someone please clarify.

Asd fro the paper revealing his address. A disgraceful decision. An interview would have sufficed.

[chazza]

He did not "choose to admit it", after the spy ring was uncovered, he knew that he was on the verge of being discovered, so came clean before he was "outed".

[noxlumos]

Well Dom Tuk you're naieve in the extreme to think that his British masters were not about to out him. The only reason Denis Donaldson threw himself on the mercy of the Republican powers that be was because he was about to be outed. If he owned up he stood a slim chance, if he was outed he was dead from the word go. No-one likes a traitor and the Loyalists hold people like him in as much disdain as the next man, he's no hero to them, he was an expendable little weasel to everyone and he was used to cause a furore to upset the peace talks. Any Republican that killed him against IRA wishes would very quickly join him, makes no sense for anyone to do so.There are a further 3 known spies within senior Republicans and it has caused some problems. Dennis Donaldson was extensively debriefed durning 2 sessions and doubtless IRA were clear that they had the identities of the other spies involved since shortly afterwards one of them left his home in West Belfast and has not been seen since.

As for ridiculing the idea that it was a non Republican killing,if you really think that the security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries do not work hand in hand I suggest you research the work of Sir John Stevens, which would have been more extensively damning had a lot of the evidence not been obstructed by, oh wait, was it the British security services? I think it was.

[Dom Tuk]

Traitor in republican ranks..............useful man in loyalist eyes.

Traitor in republican ranks............republicans want him dead

So why should the loyalists do their dirty work for the republicnas. Every day he was alive was an insult to the republicans hence source of great joy to the loyalists.

I dont buy any theory that says the loyalists would do this. As for the British....they have been lowlifes in every continent so why should it surprise.

[noxlumos]

The Loyalists will stop at nothing to hijack the peace process.They are in great danger of losing the tenuous grip they have on the power they have by refusing to form a government with Sinn Fein despite the fact that the IRA have decommisioned all of their weapons as agreed etc. The only hope they have of getting away with it is to make sure than Sinn Fein is seen in an ill light so that they can posture and pose and claim the moral high ground and imply that they are unfit for government.The Loyalists hate Donaldson as much as the next man, no Catholic is a hero to them, make no mistake, he was not useful anymore except as a corpse to derail the forming of an executive.

Hatred is not the issue here, of course he was hated in republican circles both generally and personally, but they are not so unspophisticated as to cut off their noses to spite their faces, some people have worked very long and hard for this, they won't let a poxy informer get in the way of the ultimate goal, it just makes no sense to kill him now.

To see the level of Brit/Loyalist involvement with the killing of innocents on both sides you might like to research Freddie Scappaticci ( aka steaknife, or not, depending on whom you believe).

[THECORBYLOON]

It amazes me the way some folk look for the unlikey reasons for events. If a double agent is murdered, is it likely he was murdered by his masters? NO. He double-crossed Sinn Fein/IRA so is it not more likely he was murdered either by them or with their knowledge?

[noxlumos]

If he'd been murdered at a different time Corby yes, but right now, not a hope in hell.