Ex-Real IRA leader denies tip-off

The one-time leader of the Real IRA yesterday denied all knowledge of the murders of two senior policemen in a border ambush in 1989.

Michael McKevitt, who is serving 20 years for terrorist offences, faced questions about the killings of Royal Ulster Constabulary officers Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan. A tribunal is investigating whether rogue policemen in the Republic had tipped off the IRA about the movements of the officers.

McKevitt, who was then a local high-ranking IRA officer, denied he had ever had a "friendly contact" within the Irish police.