A former detective sergeant who was named under House of Commons privilege as an IRA mole has told the Smithwick Tribunal the incident was a deliberate move to put his life in danger.
Former detective sergeant Owen Corrigan of Dundalk Garda station was named by Jeffrey Donaldson MP as an IRA informer, in a House of Commons Speech in April, 2000.
This morning, Mr Corrigan likened the incident to the identification, also in the House of Commons, "by a conservative MP", of some Belfast solicitors as people who were of assistance to the IRA.
He recalled that well-known Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, who had successfully taken a number of civil rights cases against the British government, was subsequently shot to death in front of his family by a loyalist gang.
"Mr Donaldson set out to achieve the same. I was in a very vulnerable position given where I was living," he said. "I never discounted my faith would be similar".
He said Mr Donaldson had "set out to achieve the same modus operandi as his predecessor in the House of Commons".
Mr Corrigan said this was part of a "double attack" on him by organs of the British government and the IRA. The Irish Government have been pressing Downing Street for an inquiry into the Finucane killing and in response, he had been described as a rogue garda in a bid to deflect attention.
He was he said the "jewel in the crown" in the Garda fight against terrorism and the IRA had also vilified him as that organisation was keen to "discredit the enemy".
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