It was confirmed that MI5 spied on the journalist’s phone on two
occasions in 2006 and 2009 when he worked with the BBC in Belfast.

The tribunal has previously exposed that two northern journalists,
Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, were similarly spied upon by the PSNI

Mr Kearney (pictured) was home affairs correspondent at the BBC in Belfast in April
2006. The technology used against him has not been revealed, nor have
details of any other surveillance attempts. The Belfast-born journalist
described the development as “deeply concerning”.

“This unprecedented admission by the British security service MI5 that
it unlawfully obtained data about my mobile phone communications while I
was conducting lawful journalism on behalf of the BBC is deeply
concerning not just for myself but for all journalists,” he said.

“I am keen to establish as much detail as possible about the nature of
these two instances of unlawful intrusion, and whether MI5 illegally
gathered information about my mobile phone communications on other

“These issues will be the subject of further legal enquiries by the
BBC’s legal team.”

During Monday’s hearing a barrister for Mr Kearney said the development
has “very obvious implications for MI5”.

“Certainly with regards those interferences in 2006 and 2009,” he said.

“And it may also have an obvious implication for any other interference
which has hitherto only been set out in closed hearings and in respect
of which MI5 continues to ‘Neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND).”

‘Neither confirm nor deny’ is the stance normally adopted by British
state agencies when asked to provide information they do not want to

Mr Kearney’s case emerged as part of proceedings involving two other
Belfast journalists, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, last year. Both
journalists were spied upon as a result of their production of a
documentary on the Loughinisland massacre, when British state forces
conspired with loyalist paramilitaries to kill six innocent civilians in
a County Down village in 1994. It was later found that both the PSNI and
London police acted illegally by spying on Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney to
identify their sources.

The first sign that MI5 were also participants in illegal spying was
when a senior PSNI figure admitted visiting MI5 HQ before they were
arrested on false charges of conspiracy in 2018.

Mr Birney described the latest revelation as the “tip of the iceberg”.

He wrote: “MI5 took a year to admit what it did to Vincent. And if they
told the PSNI they’d spied on him, why did the PSNI not disclose that?..
They’ve shown utter contempt for the courts and journalism. We need a
public inquiry.”

Speaking to the media at Stormont, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly said the
concession by MI5 that it had illegally spied on Mr Kearney was possibly
“unprecedented”.

“But what is not surprising is that they’ve been doing this as long as
we have been there. And what we’re finding out again and again is that
they are not held to account anywhere I can see.

“I mean, I remember right back when conversations between Martin
McGuinness and Mo Mowlam were also listened to. So, that part doesn’t
surprise me. However, they’re out of control.”

He said the freedom of the press is central to democracy and thanked the
journalists involved, including Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, who
he said had been “pursued” by the PSNI for seeking the truth about the
Loughinisland massacre.

“All this is completely unacceptable.. but where else is it happening?”

“How much more are we going to find out? And how long will it take, will
it take another number of years before they get that out? They need to
be accountable, and they’re not, I think. They have to tell the truth.
That’s the first thing.

“And then you have to work out on what, if there is a punishment, if
there is an answer to it. I’m not just looking at punishment. What you
want out of this is that it stops. That is what needs to stop. And will
it stop? I am doubtful.”

But Saoradh rejected Mr Kelly’s warning that MI5 is “out of control” and
condemned what it claimed is Sinn Féin “hypocrisy” in regard to the
British agency.

“MI5 has always been in control and has always been another wing of
British imperialism in Ireland, operating without accountability,” they

“The difference today is that Sinn Féin, while pretending to challenge
it, has become a manager of the very system that protects it.

“Saoradh condemns, without reservation, MI5’s ongoing campaign against
journalists, republicans, and all those who refuse to bend to British
rule. But we also condemn Sinn Féin’s hypocrisy – a party that once
claimed to resist British repression now props up the structures that
allow MI5 to continue its dirty war.

“Those who truly oppose MI5 and British state repression cannot do so
from the benches of Stormont, propping up British institutions and
expressing outrage only when convenient.”