Extradited man charged with murder of Denis Donaldson

A 49-year-old man has been charged at the Special Criminal Court with the murder of Denis Donaldson, a former Provisional IRA member and senior Sinn Féin official killed in County Donegal in April 2006. Antoin Duffy, from Braade, Kincasslagh, was extradited from Scotland in late March and appeared before the three-judge, non-jury court to face six charges in connection with the killing and related offences. The charges against Duffy include the fatal shooting at an isolated cottage near Glenties and the attempted murder of Liam McGinley in November 2007. He is also charged with possession of a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life in relation to separate incidents. The Director of Public Prosecutions certified that the ordinary courts were inadequate to try the case, leading Mr Justice Patrick McGrath to order proceedings at the Special Criminal Court. Donaldson, aged 55 at the time of his death, was shot dead twenty years ago after being exposed as a long-serving MI5 informant. The Real IRA, a dissident republican organisation, later claimed responsibility for the killing. The case has remained a significant unsolved murder in the State's counterinsurgency history. Duffy had been imprisoned in Scotland since 2015 following conviction for involvement in a plot against the Ulster Defence Association. At a court hearing in April 2026, he was remanded in custody pending service of the book of evidence, with the case scheduled for mention on 8 June. Legal representatives were directed to receive two books of evidence detailing the prosecution's case at that hearing. The extradition and subsequent charges represent a major development in efforts to establish accountability for Donaldson's killing.