The dissident republican group which murdered one of its own members in Derry last week has claimed he had admitted involvement in a €0.5million cannabis factory discovered in Donegal last month.
The Real IRA issued another statement in relation to the murder of Kieran Doherty in Derry close to the border last Wednesday night.
Mr Doherty's semi-naked body was found with two bullet wounds to the head. The group said it believed the British se
curity agency MI5 was involved in the discovery of the cannabis factory in a house at Kildrum Lower, near Carrigans, although it admitted Mr Doherty had denied working for the agency. Two men were questioned by gardaí about the drugs seizure and released without charge. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Real IRA said Mr Doherty had been investigated in the aftermath of the drugs find. The statement said Mr Doherty was a member of the group's general headquarters staff.
"After the drugs factory was uncovered, the IRA stood down its entire Derry brigade pending the outcome of our investigation," the statement said.
Admitting the murder the group said:"We executed him because he was involved with a criminal organisation with links to the drugs trade and was profiteering. He knew the risks involved in what he was doing."
The house in Carrigans where the drug factory was discovered was owned by Seamus McGreevy, who is believed to have been a senior RIRA member. His body was found earlier this month at his home in Co Meath but gardaí do not believe foul play was involved.
Several hundred people took part in a rally in Derry on Tuesday night organised by the Derry Trades Council to express revulsion at the murder..
