The widow of a former senior Sinn Féin official murdered in Co Donegal after being exposed as a British agent has called on the Irish Government to establish a public inquiry into his killing.
Denis Donaldson was shot dead in a remote cottage in Glenties on 4, April 2006.
A short time before he was killed it was revealed that he had led a secret life for 20 years working as an informer for MI5, the RUC and the PSNI.
Speaking publicly about the murder for the first time to mark the 20th anniversary, his widow Alice told RTÉ News she believes a statutory inquiry is the only way to establish the truth about what happened.
A man appeared in the Special Criminal Court last week charged with the murder.
"We just want the truth, I want closure, but we want the truth about what happened to Denis, who gave the order to kill him," she said.
"I don't want my grandchildren to come up through the years and all this still going on. It’s hard enough as it is after all this time."
The family solicitor said they may take legal action if an independent statutory inquiry is not established.
"The family have been on record for a long time as saying that they're interested not only in who pulled the trigger, but also who pulled the strings," explained Enda McGarrity.
"On the twentieth anniversary of the murder that is as important now as it ever was."
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has agreed to meet the family, and they have raised their demand for a public inquiry in meetings with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
In a letter to Alice Donaldson last week about the request for an inquiry, the Taoiseach said: "While I understand the pain and deep frustration caused by these circumstances, there is an active ongoing criminal investigation in this jurisdiction, and it is necessary to be mindful of not doing anything that might interfere with that investigation."
Ms Donaldson had been staying with her husband in the cottage in Glenties after he fled Belfast following his exposure as a British agent, but left two days before he was killed because she was ill.
The many questions the family has about the circumstances of the murder include whether the killers knew she had returned to Belfast because the cottage was under surveillance.
She said her family has the same right to the truth about what happened as the families of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane and GAA official Sean Brown.
The British government agreed to a public inquiry into Mr Finucane’s murder after a long campaign by his family which was supported by the Irish Government.
The Irish Government is also supporting calls by Sean Brown’s family for a public inquiry into his murder after he was abducted while locking the gates of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry in May 1997.
Ms Donaldson said the Irish Government should take the same approach to her husband’s murder.
"They need the truth just as much as what I need the truth," she said.
"It’s been very tough. Denis was 55 when he was murdered. I’m 79 this year and I don’t want to keep going through all this again, it’s not right.
"They need to do something and tell people the truth. That’s what we want, the truth, and closure."
The family also wants An Garda Síochána to return a journal Mr Donaldson was writing while living in Glenties after fleeing Belfast.
It was removed from the cottage after his murder, and gardaí have refused multiple requests for its return.
"Those were Denis’s last words and we should be able to read them," she said.
"I don’t know what’s in that journal, but you know we should have that back and see it for ourselves what’s in that journal."
The family solicitor said that while the Irish Government has been critical of how the British government is dealing with the legacy of The Troubles, it has not fulfilled its obligations to the Donaldson family.
Watch: Donaldson's family solicitor Enda McGarrity
"They're seeking a statutory inquiry to investigate the wider circumstances surrounding the murder. It is a complex one, it's one that touches both sides of the border and that brings in obligations for both governments," he said.
"It's not a case about the rights and wrongs of Dennis Donaldson's life. It's about the circumstances surrounding his death, and Alice has fundamental rights to have an effective investigation.
"Twenty years is much too long, and the onus should not be on bereaved families to compound their grief by having to jump through hoops to get an effective investigation.
"The Irish Government rolled in behind the campaigns for inquiries into the murders of Pat Finucane and Sean Brown and all that Alice and the immediate family are asking here is that they do the same."
