Informer told not to return

So-called ‘supergrass’ Raymond Gilmour has been warned he will be targeted by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) if he tries to set foot back in Derry.

Willie Gallagher, of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, which is linked to the small armed group, said he does not believe the INLA “would take too kindly” to any attempt by the informer to come back to Derry.

He also believes that other republican groups might target him.

Mr Gallagher was speaking after it emerged that Gilmour was seeking assurances from Sinn Féin that he would be safe to return to the city he fled 25 years ago after betraying a number of republicans to British forces.

While saying he believed Gilmour’s demand was a test for Sinn Féin, Mr Gallagher said he believed the informer would not find republican groups in a forgiving mood.

Graffiti has also appeared in the Bogside declaring: “Gilmore you dare come back!”

The informer was a member of both the INLA and the Provisional IRA and his evidence brought 35 people to trial in the early 1980s.

The cases collapsed when a Diplock court judge admitted his evidence was “unworthy of belief”.

Mr Gallagher said yesterday he was suspicious of the motives and timing behind Gilmour’s statement.

“I don’t think this is serious, I think he has been put up to this by his handlers as a test of Sinn Féin,” said the IRSP leader.

“If he comes back he will be under threat from organisations like the INLA, Continuity IRA and Real IRA. It is thought by many that he is responsible for the deaths of other republicans because of information and intelligence that he gave.

“I cannot speak for them each individually, but I don’t think the INLA would take too kindly to him coming back and I wouldn’t be surprised if they took some sort of action against him.”

Raymond Gilmour has asked Sinn Féin leaders to promise he would be safe if he returned to Derry, where he still has relatives.

“I would like Martin McGuinness’s assurances, and Gerry Adams’s, and whoever else is in charge of Sinn Féin,” he said.

“Maybe not to live there, but maybe to come over for a wee holiday, or something like that.

“The only regrets I have are leaving all of my family behind me.”

Mr McGuinness said Mr Gilmour must decide for himself whether or not it was safe to return to Derry and that he was not under threat from Sinn Féin, nor from the Provisional IRA.

He said if so-called “exiles” such as Gilmour wanted to return home, it was a matter for their own judgment and their ability to make peace with the community.

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