ALLEGATIONS of a Provisional IRA spy ring that brought down the Stormont powersharing executive were withdrawn yesterday when three Belfast men were acquitted after no evidence was offered against them “in the public interest”.

The decision by the Public Prosecution Service — which was announced at an unlisted hearing at Belfast Crown Court during a visit to the city by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh — provoked claims of political interference by republicans and Unionists.

Denis Donaldson, who was in charge of Sinn Fein’s administration at Stormont, his son-in-law Ciaran Kearney and William Mackessy were told that all charges were being dropped.

The three were arrested after a police raid on Sinn Fein’s offices at Parliament Buildings on October 5, 2002, when documents and computer discs were seized. They were charged with seven offences.

Mr Donaldson, 55, and Mr Kearney, 34, had been accused of having documents likely to be of use to terrorists. Mr Mackessy, 47, was charged with collecting information on the security forces.

Gordon Kerr, QC, for the prosecution, said that the Director of the Public Prosecution Services “has concluded that having regard to the materials placed before him and his duties as a public authority under the Human Rights Act 1998 that the prosecution for the offences in relation to the accused are no longer in the public interest”.

Mr Justice Hart formally declared the men not guilty and said that they were free to go.

Afterwards, Mr Donaldson said the charges should never have been brought. “It was political policing and political charges and the fact that we were acquitted today proves that,” he said. Mr Mackessy said that he felt “disgusted with the British Government for bringing charges”.

Ciaran Shields, a solicitor who represented Mr Donaldson and Mr Mackessy, said they felt that they were “victims of a political operation by elements within the security forces who deliberately used their position to hamper political progress in this country”.

He added: “This case had huge implications, not just for our clients and their families but for the community as a whole in the sense that these arrests led to the collapse of the power-sharing executive.”He claimed that they had learnt of a Special Branch operation known as Operation Torsion, which was “designed to incriminate republicans”.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said in a statement that the men were entitled to the presumption of innocence. It said: “The background to this case is that a paramilitary organisation, namely the Provisional IRA, was actively involved in the systematic gathering of information and targeting of individuals.

“Police investigated that activity and a police operation led to the recovery of thousands of sensitive documents which had been removed from government offices. A large number of people were subsequently warned about threats to them.”

The PSNI said that its investigation into the matter had now concluded.

But Martin McGuinness, an MP and Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, disagreed, saying that the allegation of a spy ring had been concocted to destroy political progress at Stormont. He said: “This is a shameful episode . . . there never was a spy ring operating at Stormont.”

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said: “This is solely a matter for the prosecuting authorities and not the NIO. We note also what the police have said: that they have not changed their assessment that (the Provisional IRA) was actively involved in the systematic gathering of information from government offices and the targeting of individuals.”

After the arrests the Government suspended devolution in the Province, embarking on direct rule for the past three years. The focus since then, boosted by the IRA’s announcement in July that it had abandoned its campaign to end British rule in Ireland, has been on restoring the powersharing institutions.

But Ian Paisley Jr, the Democratic Unionists’ policing board member and justice spokesman, said that the decision to drop the charges was deeply disturbing and another sop to Sinn Fein.

Danny Kennedy, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists’ Assembly Group, said: “The Director of Public Prosecution Services did not say that there was insufficient evidence, merely that it was not in the public interest to proceed further. This statement requires further explanation.”

The events unfolded as the Queen was meeting Mary McAleese, the President of the Republic of Ireland, at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down.

It was the first time that the two heads of state have met in Northern Ireland and was seen as a step towards a formal royal visit to Dublin, the first since George V and Queen Mary visited in 1911.

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