Tyrone man set up by US agents to spy for British Intelligence at Newark Airport

Published: 7 April, 2006

INA Political Action Alert

A Tyrone man, set up by a US Federal Officer, is pressed to spy for British Intelligence in Newark International Airport

The facts:   

• Tyrone man Shane Coleman was visiting Philadelphia for several weeks with his partner and young son.  He played a tin whistle at Philadelphia City Hall as a proclamation honoring the 1981 Hunger Strike was enacted.
• On 22 March, he was told by a US Federal Agent who called at the house where he was staying, to arrive at the airport hours early to clear up problems with his visa.
• While at the airport, he was approached by MI5 agents to act as a spy for money and favors.  He refused.

The implications:

• Our own government is acting in cooperation with British MI5 to set up Irish citizens on US soil to become spies.  What they do elsewhere is their own business, although a dirty and very dangerous business.  What they do in the US is our business.
• Please read the “Daily Ireland” article below for details.

Action: 

Write, email, or call your Member of Congress and Senators.  All members of congress/senators may be reached at their D.C. offices through the Congressional switchboard:  [202] 225-3121.  Ask them to contact the appropriate federal agencies and the Departments of State and Justice to demand information on the Shane Coleman incident and US policy regarding Irish people visiting our country being set up by federal agents in cooperation with MI5. 

Then follow up.  We need action and answers;  the best way for us to get them is through our elected representatives.  If you receive any information, please contact Irish Northern Aid c/o Political Education Department @ [212] 736-1916.

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MI5 recruiting spies in U.S.

06/04/2006, Daily Ireland

A Tyrone man has spoken of his personal ordeal after claiming that British intelligence services tried to recruit him as an agent while on a family holiday last month in the United States.
Shane Coleman from Ardboe, near Cookstown, said that, as he travelled through Newark International Airport on March 22, two men who identified themselves as MI5 members had asked him to infiltrate the Real IRA.

The 29-year-old said he had been detained for more than two hours by two US officials who identified themselves as federal customs agents as he prepared to fly to Ireland after a two-week St Patrick's break with his partner and small son.

Mr Coleman spoke out just hours after it emerged that the former British agent Denis Donaldson was gunned down in Co Donegal.

The Tyrone man said his ordeal had begun on the day he was to fly home. A woman identifying herself as a US federal agent phoned the house where he was staying and told him to arrive early at Newark International Airport because he was required for a meeting, according to Mr Coleman. The two officials took him into a room after he had presented himself at the airport, he said.

"The woman told me that she was concerned about my visa and that I had ticked 'no' when asked if I had been convicted of a terrorist offence.

"She told me that I had been convicted of assaulting a police officer. I told her that wasn't a terrorist conviction, and the incident arose as a result of me being harassed.

"Then she told me she had information that I was involved in the Real IRA. Then she said there was a couple of people who wanted to speak to me and brought two men into the room.

"One spoke with an English accent, and I asked him was he from Scotland Yard and he said he was MI5. The other man spoke with a Northern accent.

"They knew everything about me - that I had been working as a courier, that I had quit my job recently, that I had a few financial difficulties. They said I had a few associates they were interested in and they asked me to infiltrate the Real IRA. I am not and never have been a member of any political or paramilitary organisation and this concerns me," said Mr Coleman.

The Tyrone man said he had made clear that he was not interested in working for the men.

"They said money wasn't an issue, that the pot was overflowing. They asked me if I wanted to come back to New York to talk about it or maybe we could go to Hawaii for a few days.

"They said it was in my interests and their interests to work together. They also said that they couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't end up in jail.

"They tried to give me a number and told me to ring them when I had time to think about it. I told them I didn't need time to think about it. They said they might be able to help me, keep me out of trouble if I got into a tight spot, if I kept their number. I took it as a threat because the only way I'll end up in jail is if they set me up.

"They told me to look at it as life insurance. I asked him: 'What about Gareth O'Connor's life insurance? How did that work out?' He just went on as if I had said nothing.

"I would rather die in the street as a beggar than take their money. I told them their money was dirty. Look at Denis Donaldson. Look at how it worked out for him. If you work for them, they use you and discard you, and you end up dead," said Mr Coleman.