20 August 2004. Thanks to A.

GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING PEACE CHARITY

By Alan Erwin, PA News

The Government was tonight accused of exploiting a charity set up after the Warrington IRA bombing in a bid to gather intelligence on a former undercover operative in Northern Ireland.

Former IRA spy Kevin Fulton hit out after learning that he had featured in discussions between the Children for Peace foundation and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

The foundation insists it was only trying to assess Mr Fulton's suitability for a new study into victims of the Northern Ireland conflict, but the ex-spy said: "I believe the charity has been unwittingly used by the Government to gather intelligence.

"That is inexcusable because the charity was doing everything it could to try and help people.''

Mr Fulton  lives under a false name at a secret location in England and claims his life is under threat following his work inside the Provisionals.

He is fighting a legal battle to force the authorities to provide him with a new security package.

He claims his dealings with the foundation, set up in memory of Tim Parry, 12, and three-year-old Johnathan Ball who died in the 1993 blast, have been included in court papers challenging his protection demands.

He spoke to the trust in January to assess whether he should take part in a needs analysis for victims of the Northern Ireland conflict living in Britain.

Trust Director Clare White tonight refused to comment on the row.

But in a letter sent to Mr Fulton she said: "This suitability was checked through a discreet and confidential conversation with the Victims Liaison Unit of the NIO, which provides the entire funding for the Legacy Project.

"That was in line with standard practice. In line with its commitment in its appeal to Northern Ireland veterans, the Trust did not disclose any information to the NIO other than the fact that Mr Fulton had contacted it.

"It is only the fact of that contact which has, as I understand it, been disclosed in the affidavit filed by the NIO in defence of a legal challenge initiated by Mr Fulton.

"There is no question of any confidential information having been released by the Trust in the first place or disclosed in the affidavit filed by the NIO.''

But Mr Fulton, whose ignored warnings of a terrorist attack were central to Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's scathing assessment of the Omagh bomb inquiry, insisted that any contact with the NIO was a breach of confidence.

"I was told this would be in the strictest of confidence,'' he said. "I gave them details about myself and the job I had done as an agent in Northern Ireland.

"The group told me they would come back to me, but they never did. They didn't say anyone would be informed about my contact with the group.''

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