Skip to main content
CNN.com International
The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WORLD

Sinn Fein auctions 'MI5 spy bug'


story.bug.jpg
The device, mounted on a plinth, is accompanied by a framed letter of "authentication."
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Northern Ireland
Great Britain
Sinn Fein
Gerry Adams

LONDON, England -- Sinn Fein is auctioning on the Internet what it says is a bugging device planted by Britain's secret service in the Northern Irish republican party's offices.

The battery-powered bug, which no longer works, was found in Sinn Fein's offices in Belfast last September, according to the IRA-linked party's online bookstore.

A letter from Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams about the discovery is also part of the auction offer, which by 1200 GMT on Wednesday was fetching bids of more than $2,200.

"In January 2005, Eliza Manningham-Butler, head of MI5, admitted that MI5 bugged Connolly house," Adams said in the note.

Sinn Fein, which campaigns to oust Britain from Northern Ireland, said it hoped to use the money raised to help fund "the campaign for Irish unity and freedom."

"This auction is for part of a British MI5 bugging device found hidden in the floorboards of a Sinn Fein office in Belfast in September 2004," it said in a statement on Sinnfeinbookshop.com.

"This is a unique opportunity," it added. "A historical item such as this has never before been made available and it's highly unlikely that it will happen again."

The device was first put on display by Sinn Fein at its headquarters last September, just before the party headed for crunch talks with the government and other Northern Ireland parties in southern England.

"The British make it very hard to make peace when all this is going on," Adams said at the time.

The bug went on auction on Tuesday as republicans were criticized in the latest International Monitoring Commission report that said the outlawed IRA was still recruiting and training.

Side-stepping any accusation it was an attempt to divert attention, Sinn Fein general secretary Mitchel McLaughlin told the Press Association it was "part of a serious attempt to shine a light on the ongoing activities of British security agencies in Ireland."


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Iran poll to go to run-off
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.