Donaldson family says it believes IRA murder denial

The family of murdered British spy Denis Donaldson said today it believed the IRA's claim it had not killed the former Sinn Féin official.

In a statement issued this morning through Belfast law firm Madden & Finucane, the family said the "difficult situation" it now finds itself in is a "direct result of the activities of Special Branch and British intelligence agencies".

Mr Donaldson, a senior figure in the Republican movement, was found shot dead in a remote Co Donegal cottage on Tuesday. He fled there after revealing in December that he had worked as a British agent inside Sinn Féin for 20 years.

Following the murder, both Dublin and London were quick to make it clear that neither government was initially pointing the finger at the mainstream republican movement, and that they did not see the killing as providing an obstacle to political development.

The leaders went ahead with their demand yesterday that parties form a power sharing executive by November 24th.

The Donaldson family statement said: "Denis was a loving husband, a devoted father and grandfather and a good brother.

"The events of recent months have been very difficult for our family. In December, Denis left his home in Belfast and moved to Donegal where it was his desire that he be left alone to rebuild his life.

"Unfortunately, he continued to be pursued by sections of the media, some of whom gave details about his whereabouts.

"On Tuesday 4th April, Denis was murdered. We do not know by whom. But the difficult situation which our family has been put in is the direct result of the activities of the Special Branch and British Intelligence agencies," the statement said.

"We acknowledge the speedy statement from the IRA disassociating themselves from this murder. We believe that statement to be true."

The family went on to ask politicians and media commentators "who have sought to use this tragedy to score cheap political points" to stop doing so.

They said that Mr Donaldson will be buried in Belfast in the next few days. The funeral will be private, and the family asked media to respect its privacy.

The Taoiseach said yesterday that gardaí had no intelligence as to the identity of Mr Donaldson's killers.

"We have no intelligence, no information, to indicate whether, as I said in the Dáil, it is retribution for some past event or some falling out along the way or whether it is some dissident group."