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LAWYERS FOR A man accused of the murder of former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson have expressed “concern” that more than 20 years after the fatal shooting, the Director of Public Prosecutions is not in a position to hand over its book of evidence.

Stephen Faulkner BL, representing Antoin Duffy (50), pointed out that his client was brought to Ireland by arrangement and the matter has been listed three times for service of the book of evidence.

Faulkner said his client wants to apply for bail but has been told that gardaí will object on the basis of evidence that has not yet been served to the defence.

“It is somewhat concerning that the murder dates back to 2006 and the book is still not ready,” counsel said.

Simon Matthews, for the state, said the director will serve the book of evidence in relation to the murder of Denis Donaldson on 12 October next.

The state was in a position today to serve a book of evidence on Duffy regarding the separate offence of the attempted murder of Liam McGinley. That offence is alleged to have happened at Meenaboll, Churchill in Donegal on 19 November 2007.

Duffy, last of Braade, Kincasslagh, Co Donegal is charged with the murder of Denis Donaldson and possession of a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life at Cloghercor, Doochary, Co Donegal, between 3 April and 4 April 2006.

Duffy had been in prison in Scotland following a 2015 conviction for his part in a plot to murder members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

He was arrested by gardaí from the Donegal Division investigating Denis Donaldson’s murder following his extradition from Scotland. The arrest was carried out with the assistance of An Garda Síochána Extradition Unit, Garda National Bureau of Investigation and the Irish Air Corps.

Denis Donaldson was a former member of the Provisional IRA and a high-ranking Sinn Féin official. He associated with senior members of the party, including former party president Gerry Adams.

In 2002, when Denis Donaldson was Sinn Féin’s top administrator working in the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont, he was charged with involvement in an alleged spy ring. Three years later, the charges were dropped and within days, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) informed him that he was about to be exposed in the media as an MI5 informer.

Denis Donaldson met with senior republicans and admitted that he had been working for the British intelligence unit, MI5, and the Special Branch unit of the RUC for more than 20 years. On 16 December 2005, he held a press conference in Dublin in which he publicly acknowledged his role as a double agent.

He removed himself from public life and went to live at an isolated cottage near the Glenties in south-west Donegal, where, at the age of 55, he was shot dead on 4 April 2006.

The dissident republican organisation, calling itself the Real IRA, later claimed responsibility for the murder.

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