THE FAMILY OF murdered Sinn Féin official, and former IRA/MI5 double agent, Denis Donaldson are pleading for answers in his unresolved case, almost 19 years after his death.

Donaldson was killed in April 2006 in Glentries, Donegal and a murder probe into the incident has never been solved. Since, 27 inquests into the death of the official have been adjourned due to the status of the investigation.

In a letter to the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, in April 2021, Donaldson’s family requested that a judge-led commission be established to investigate the death of their loved one. 

In response, McEntee said that she did not believe that it would be “prudent” to establish such an inquiry, “particularly in light of an active ongoing investigation by An Garda Síochána”.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Donaldson family say their rights have been “repeatedly frustrated” by the delays in the investigation and for the family to receive the truth around the circumstances of his death.

Jane Donaldson, the daughter of the victim, said: “In two decades since my father’s murder, no Irish Government Minister has been willing to meet my family and account for its double standards and differential treatment.”

Donaldson’s killing was claimed by the Real IRA, though nobody has ever been convicted for the incident. The murder took place following Donaldson’s admission that he became an MI5 informer during the 1980s and 1990s.

He was shot in a remote part Glenties in 2006. After the Good Friday Agreement, Donaldson worked in Stormont on behalf of Sinn Féin.

Jane said, on behalf of her family, that her father was given no protection, while others “like agent Stakeknife – were shielded and shepherded away to safety”.

State agencies and officials were allegedly “complicit” it the lack of protection for her father, Jane claims, adding that it is within public interest that the details of the investigation into her father’s killing are published and detailed in a robust manner.

Northern Ireland’s police watchdog previously issued a report which claimed that there was no evidence that any information around the whereabouts of Donaldson, the informant, were ever leaked.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One this morning, solicitor James Madden​​​​ of Madden & Finucane, who represents the Donaldson family, said all the family want is for the Government to assist them in their search for answers.

“They do say [an investigation] is ongoing, but with the amount of years that have passed the family believe that it is just going nowhere,” Madden said.