A SISTER of the Real IRA man who was shot dead in Derry last Wednesday has rejected claims that her brother was involved in a drugs operation.
Kieran Doherty (31), was shot twice in the head by members of his own organisation, who then left his naked and bound body on a country road close to a Carmelite retreat centre at Braehead Road, on the outskirts of the city.
Among those who attended a rally yesterday evening to protest against his killing were his fiancee, Mairead Millar, and their two-year-old daughter Ceadach.
Speaking at the rally, Leeanne Doherty said her brother’s murder, which has caused deep divisions within the dissident republican movement in the north-west, had brought shame to the Real IRA, and she challenged the paramilitary group to explain to her family why they had shot dead her brother.
Ms Doherty also repeated the family’s appeal for an inquiry to be carried out into the alleged involvement of MI5 in her brother’s death.
She said the intelligence organisation had unsuccessfully attempted to recruit her brother as an informer.
“Even as Kieran was attempting to keep his life on track, they persisted. He was filled with anxiety and put in hospital with depression,” she said.
“We know that it wasn’t MI5 who pulled the trigger to kill Kieran. The Real IRA has direct responsibility for his death,” she added.
The secretary of Derry Trades Council, Liam Gallagher, told the rally that Kieran Doherty had been summarily murdered.