Informer Gilmour's death made my day, says SF councillor

Mr McVeigh posted his thoughts on Mr Gilmour’s death on Facebook, saying: “I was in the Crum with dozens of the men who were named by this man. This has made my day!”

Mr Gilmour became an RUC Special Branch informer when he was 17 and was the only witness in a trial of 35 IRA suspects that collapsed in 1984.

He lived under an assumed identity for more than 30 years. He was found dead at his home in Kent last week.

Victims’ campaigner William Frazer, meanwhile, has offered to help pay for the funeral costs after it emerged he may be given a ‘pauper’s funeral’.

Mr Frazer said: “I would like to pass on our sympathies to the Gilmour family. Raymond Gilmour did a lot to destroy the IRA in Londonderry and he never got the recognition for what he did. I spoke to Raymond on a regular basis and I certainly appreciated what he did against the IRA and so did a lot of other people. We are sorry to hear the sad news.”

He told the Belfast Telegraph: “I am more than willing to contribute to paying for his funeral. Martin McGartland is right – Raymond Gilmour is as entitled to a decent burial as servicemen who have fought for their country.

“It was heartbreaking to read that he had such an isolated and poverty-stricken existence in his final years. I want him to have the dignity in death that he was denied in the latter part of his life. It’s the least we can do for him.

“It would be disgraceful if Raymond Gilmour was given a pauper’s funeral. He saved many lives in Northern Ireland. He put his own life on the line.”