Reaction:The "evil" murder of Denis Donaldson is a "brutal reminder of Northern Ireland's tortured and tragic past", Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil today.
"I condemn it in the strongest possible terms", he added.
Mr Ahern said gardaí became aware of Mr Donaldson's presence in Co Donegal in January and "visited him in the light of the public attention which he received and they advised him because of the circumstances, there was a perceived element of threat to his life.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
"They offered advice on personal security and [gave him the] telephone number of Glenties Garda station in case he had any concerns. On an ongoing basis, therefore, the house where he lived received passing attention from gardaí."
The Taoiseach said, however, that Mr Donaldson had not requested Garda assistance or protection.
On who might have carried out the killing, Mr Ahern said: "I have no idea at this stage who could have been or would have been involved.
"Mr Donaldson would have had plenty of people who would have had an interest in him in one form or other. But whoever who was responsible for this evil deed was certainly no friend of the peace process."
He surmised that it could have been "blind and bitter retribution" but noted it had been denied by republicans.
He said the two governments "will not be deterred from efforts to bring politics centre stage in Northern Ireland so [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair and I will travel to Armagh tomorrow and get on with it."
The two leaders plan to announce the restoration of the Northern Assembly for a six-month period in the hope that a powersharing Executive can be established this year.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny described the killing as a "cold, callous and vicious murder".
He said the killing "bore the hallmarks of the execution of Eamonn Collins outside Newry in 1999." Mr Collins was beaten and stabbed to death by former comrades in the IRA in January 1999 after writing an autobiography, Killing Rage.
Mr Kenny suggested that members of the Provisional IRA disaffected since a crackdown on criminal activity along the Border might have been responsible for Mr Donaldson's killing.
"I note the statement from P O Neill saying the organisation had no involvement in this. The IRA are still a proscribed organisation by the Government.
"P O'Neill said that the IRA had no involvement in the murder of Det Garda McCabe, P O'Neill said they had no involvement in the Northern Ireland bank raid, P O'Neill said they had no involvement in the murder of Robert McCartney."
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte offered support to the Taoiseach in efforts to restore devolution to Northern Ireland.
Mr Blair today described the killing as "a serious, appalling, barbaric act".
"The timing of this does suggest that whoever did this wants to derail the peace process. Our response should be to deny them what they want," he said.
"Sometimes these things can be perpetrated by people in disagreement with their leadership." He added that if the IRA was responsible, it would have "serious implications".
