Sinn Féin man turned British spy is murdered

Denis Donaldson, the senior Sinn Féin administrator who had admitted being a British agent for 20 years, was yesterday found shot dead inside the isolated cottage to which he had retreated in Co Donegal. Reports last night suggested his body had been mutilated and his right hand almost severed.

Suspicions that he had been murdered by dissident Republicans cast a shadow over the government's hopes of reviving the stalled political process . Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, are due to meet tomorrow in the hope of restoring devolved government to the province. Downing Street insisted Mr Blair's visit would go ahead. Mr Donaldson had been one of the key figures charged in connection with the so-called Stormont spy ring, an affair which brought down the last devolved assembly in 2002.

The case against him and two others eventually collapsed when it emerged last December that he had been spying for British intelligence since the 1980s. His death was roundly condemned last night, with Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland secretary, saying he was "completely appalled by this barbaric act".

Mr Ahern added: "We hope that whoever was responsible for this callous act will be brought to justice as soon as possible." The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams MP, said he condemned anyone who had killed Mr Donaldson. In a brief statement, the IRA insisted that it had "no involvement whatsoever" in the killing. It was signed, as with all statements, from the leadership, P O'Neill.

The Democratic Unionist leader, Ian Paisley, told Channel 4 News: "We don't know who has done this but the finger must be pointed towards those who were angry at what this man had done." The Ulster Unionist leader, Sir Reg Empey, said the authorities might never know the perpetrators. "There was an inevitability about this. A lot of people in the republican movement and other organisations will sleep better knowing he is out of the way. Some people will see it as tidying up loose ends."