PSNI returns disks taken from Sinn Fein office

Sinn Féin today confirmed police have returned the two disks taken from its Stormont office on Friday.

Sinn Féin today confirmed police have returned the two disks taken from its Stormont office on Friday.

The items were returned to the party's solicitors earlier today.

The party had threatened legal action "to recover the property" it said was stolen from their offices in Stormont.

Party vice president Mr Pat Doherty said: "It is clear to everybody the invasion of our offices was designed to assist unionism in its current anti-Agreement strategy".

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Party leader Mr Gerry Adams today described the raid as a "set-up" designed to bring the institutions down.

Mr Adams said the current crisis in the process could be traced to whomever took the operational decision in the police to raid the Sinn Féin offices.

He said he believed the decision was made at "Belfast level" but not by the Secretary of State, Dr John Reid, or by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde.

He said there was still "an old rump of the RUC" in the PSNI who were attempting to exploit and escalate unionist divisions on the peace process.

Mr Adams said his party was "outraged" by the raid. He also dismissed SDLP allegations that the documents contained notes of private meetings it had with the British government.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times