When Denis Donaldson's past as a British spy emerged last December, he probably feared the traditional punishment meted out to informers: a bullet in the back of the head.
Even though the Provisional movement announced last summer that it had destroyed all its weapons and was following an exclusively political course, Donaldson decided to leave the family home in west Belfast. Some republicans had vowed that he would never be allowed to return to live in the city.
On Tuesday night it appeared his past had finally caught up with him. Donaldson, 56, was found dead in a squalid cottage in a valley in County Donegal, where he had taken refuge. Police found his body at 5pm after a tip-off from a neighbor. Donaldson's body had been mutilated.
PHOTO: AP
The repercussions of his death could destabilize attempts to reinstate the power-sharing government and cause further sectarian tensions.
The former head of Sinn Fein's administration in Stormont had escaped to the Republic to begin a new, hermit-like existence but was tracked to his bolthole a few weeks ago by Hugh Jordan, a journalist for the Sunday World.
"He looked like a hunted animal," said Jordan last night. "He was extremely depressed. The nerves in his eyes were trembling."
The reporter also noted that Donaldson's previous swagger had disappeared and that he spent his days drawing water from a well, cooking over an open fire and reading.
"He seemed like a man who didn't think he would come to any harm. He did not see his life to be in any danger, but felt the only future he had was where he was, living in that dreadfully squalid situation," said Jordan. "It's desperate that something like this happened. He was alone and threatened no-one. He was no harm to anybody."
Although the article disclosed Donaldson's new location -- in County Donegal, an area of the Republic of Ireland known as the Costa del Provo because of the number of IRA members who have holiday homes there -- he had decided to stay put.
Those who had been in contact with him in recent weeks said he had not shown any indication of contemplating suicide.
When he was photographed earlier this year outside the cottage he appeared to be in reasonably good health.
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
Former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a Peruvian presidential hopeful, gathered hundreds of supporters in Lima on Tuesday and gave authorities 24 hours to annul the first round of the country’s election over allegations of fraud. Lopez Aliaga is locked in a tight three-way race with two other candidates for second place in Sunday’s vote. The election runner-up wins a ticket to June’s presidential run-off against front-runner Keiko Fujimori. “I am giving them 24 hours to declare this electoral fraud null and void,” said Lopez Aliaga, surrounded by a crowd of several hundred supporters. “If it is not declared null and void tomorrow,
PAPAL RETORT: Pope Leo told reporters that he has ‘no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel’ US President Donald Trump has feuded with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran conflict — setting off an unholy row that could have serious political implications for the Republican leader back in the US. Trump has drawn barbs even from some allies over the attacks on the US-born pontiff, who has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, the intervention in Venezuela and the Iran war. The president risks alienating the religious right in November’s crucial US midterm elections. So far the unprecedented clash between the leader of the most powerful military on Earth and the head of the world’s 1.4 billion
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on March 10, but the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted on Friday last week, weeks after US District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said that he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government. Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November last
RSS