Sinn Féin leaders plan to complain directly to Tony Blair about an alleged British army spying operation on a south Armagh GAA club when they meet him in Downing Street next week.
Sinn Féin MP for Newry and Armagh Conor Murphy said in Belfast yesterday that he was in possession of an authentic document which confirmed a British army spying operation on Dromintee GAA club in south Armagh and on individual club members in the surrounding area.
Mr Murphy said the document, found two weeks ago beside an army watchtower on Faughil Mountain, Co Armagh, contains a monitoring reference guide for 12 out of a possible 30 cameras on the army watchtower.
"Most of them are spying on individuals in their homes," said Mr Murphy.
"But equally as worrying is that one of the cameras was fixed on the GAA club in Dromintee, which serves all the community in that area, and which has a substantial membership that includes quite a number of local children.
"This points to what has been a very intrusive spying operation for many years in south Armagh. It also confirms that the focus of this operation was not, as alleged by the British army, on IRA activities, but on the entire community in the south Armagh area via the GAA club."
Declan Fearon, a member of Dromintee GAA club's ruling committee, confirmed that the club has been in contact with GAA headquarters in Croke Park about the document.
"It is our hope that they will bring this matter to the attention of the Irish Government, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs, who could then raise the issue with the British government," said Mr Fearon.
"We want to know after so many years down the line, and despite absolutely no paramilitary activity in this area for over 10 years, why we continue to be the target of their surveillance."
When contacted about the document, a British army spokesman said it "does not comment on alleged operational activities".