Denis Donaldson is dead

Stunning news from Ireland which broke about an hour ago; Denis Donaldson, who had confessed to a 20 year career spying on Sinn Fein for the British government, has been shot dead. Slugger O'Toole has many links already but there is still much room for speculation. His semi-secret residence had been discovered by a newspaper a few weeks ago; the paper will doubtless say that if they could track him down, someone else could too. The Irish government may have to explain why he was not under surveillance. And if it does turn out to be an IRA operation, one question will be whether it was cynically timed to occur after Sinn Fein's visits to the USA for St Patrick's Week were over.

UPDATE: There's a general phenomenon of politicians saying that "Bad Event X only Strengthens our Resolve to Pursue Favoured Strategy Y" even when X has clearly seriously undermined Y. See for instance any US or UK statement about Iraq. But the Irish government can play that game too:

A Government spokesperson said the murder will serve to further concentrate efforts in terms of positive politics and the search for a lasting political solution in Northern Ireland.

Note that since this statement could cover any perceived setback to the political talks, it has zero relevance to the Donaldson case.

Links: Times of London; Telegraph; Irish Times (should be free); New York Times (reg. req'd).