A man who claimed to have acted as an informer against republicans appeared at a Sinn Fein press conference to confess his activities.
Mr John McKeown (29) said yesterday that he had not been coerced into admitting his role. He told the news conference in Dundalk, Co Louth, that he had decided to make a clean start for himself as he was getting married tomorrow.
Looking anxious and nervous, he said he had yet to talk to his family and was fearful of the consequences of what he had done.
Mr McKeown spoke in the Dundalk offices of Sinn Fein. The press conference was organised after he made contact with a Sinn Fein Assembly member, Mr Conor Murphy, yesterday morning.
He said he had spent the previous day and night with republicans who had asked to speak with him about missing cattle. He decided to tell them of his role as an informer because he was getting married and wanted to make a fresh start. At no time was he ill-treated or harmed.
He claimed he was recruited by the RUC after being caught with £1,000 worth of stolen meat from a factory in Newry, Co Down, 10 years ago.
After he was charged, two detectives who called themselves "Brian" and "Gerry" offered to drop the charges in return for him providing them with information about the Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, area.
He met them every couple of weeks and they gave him a telephone number to contact them. He met them over a 10-year period and was paid for the information. He got between £30 to £40 per week, or about £10,000 over the 10 years.