To say officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs are furious at the leak of the Dymphna Hayes memo on her conversation with presidential candidate Mary McAleese is an understatement. "The intelligence-gathering of Foreign Affairs has survived for 26 years and it has broken now," a senior figure told Quidnunc. "It is just awful. The whole system, depending on trust and confidence, has never been breached. It is a terrible pity. This information gathering is an invaluable source of getting the feeling in the North and an understanding. The only other source, apart from politicians, is the newspapers and the media, but people will say to DFA officials what they will not say to media people."
The system, he said, was very sophisticated and organised and was used in the formulation and assessment of policy. "I am absolutely furious and so are others."
The reports from officials on the ground, such as Ms Hayes, are circulated in a green book to senior ministers, civil servants and advisers - a large but limited group. There are theories as to where the leak came from, but that's another day's story.