A man charged with the murder of former senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson has been remanded in custody until June for the service of the book of evidence.
Donaldson was shot dead at an isolated cottage in Co Donegal 20 years ago after he was exposed as an MI5 informant.
Antoin Duffy (49) appeared before the Special Criminal Court on Monday via video-link and spoke only to confirm his identity.
The hearing at the three-judge, non-jury court took place two weeks after Duffy was extradited from Scotland.
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Duffy, last of Braade, Kincasslagh, Co Donegal, faces six charges, including the murder of Donaldson and possession of a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life at Cloghercor, Doochary, Co Donegal, between April 3rd and April 4th, 2006.
He is further charged with the attempted murder of Liam McGinley on November 19th, 2007, at Meenaboll, Churchill in Co Donegal, and with possession of a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life on the same date and at the same location.
A prosecution solicitor told the court she was seeking an eight-week remand for service of the book of evidence. She said there will be two books served and that the defence is aware of this.
Judge Tony Hunt, presiding, remanded Duffy in custody and directed that he appear before the court via video-link on June 8th for service of the book of evidence on his solicitors.
Duffy, who is originally from Co Donegal, had been in prison in Scotland following his conviction there in 2015 for his part in a plot to murder members of the Ulster Defence Association.
He was arrested by gardaí investigating Donaldson’s murder following his extradition from Scotland at the end of March. The arrest was carried out with the assistance of An Garda Síochána Extradition Unit, Garda National Bureau of Investigation and the Irish Air Corps.
Donaldson was a former member of the Provisional IRA and a high-ranking Sinn Féin official.
In 2002, when Donaldson was Sinn Féin’s top administrator working in the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont, he was charged with involvement in an alleged spy ring.
Three years later, the charges were dropped and within days, the Police Service of Northern Ireland informed him that he was about to be exposed in the media as an MI5 informer.
Donaldson met senior republicans and admitted he had been working for the British intelligence unit, MI5, and the special branch unit of the RUC for more than 20 years.
On December 16th, 2005, Donaldson held a press conference in Dublin in which he publicly acknowledged his role as a double agent.
He went to live at an isolated cottage near Glenties in southwest Donegal, where he was shot dead on April 4th, 2006.
A dissident republican organisation calling itself the Real IRA later claimed responsibility for the murder.
