Over 2,300 people on Stormont raid files

Strangford MP Iris Robinson has claimed that over 2,300 people have been informed that they are on files found during a raid on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices last year.

The DUP member said police had issued 2,310 notices to people with details on file. The figures came in a response to her written question in the House of Commons to the Secretary of State Paul Murphy, regarding how many people have been informed that their details were unearthed in the raid.

She added: "These statistics prove beyond any doubt just how detailed the intelligence gathering operation had been by IRA/Sinn Fein. Clearly this information was to be used for terrorist use at some future period in time and clearly proves that the republican movement had no intention to walk the peaceful path, but instead is unquestionably wedded to the twin-track approach of terrorism and politics."

Of the 2310, 1,427 were issued to Prison Officers, 98 were issued to police officers and 43 were issued to politicians in Northern Ireland.

Police swooped on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices on October 4 last year as part of an investigation into alleged intelligence gathering by republican terrorists inside the Northern Ireland Office.

The find eventually led to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the suspension of local institutions, and a return to direct rule from London.

(MB)