Suzanne Breen is the Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 editor for the Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune

The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...

 newspaper. She has also written for Village magazine

Village (magazine)

Village is an Irish current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne. It was launched in October 2004 and was published weekly. In January 2007, it was announced that Village Magazine would be published monthly...

 about Northern Ireland.
She was contacted by the Real IRA

Real Irish Republican Army

The Real Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Real IRA , and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann , is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which aims to bring about a united Ireland...

 when they claimed responsibility for the shootings at Masserene Barracks

2009 Massereene Barracks shooting

The 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting occurred on 7 March 2009, when two off-duty soldiers of the 38 Engineer Regiment were shot dead outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim town, Northern Ireland. Two other soldiers and two civilian delivery men, one Polish and one Northern Irish, were also shot and...

 and admitted killing Denis Donaldson

Denis Donaldson

Denis Martin Donaldson was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army and a member of Sinn Féin who was exposed in December 2005 as an informer in the employment of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Denis Martin Donaldson (Short Strand, Belfast,...

.

In 2009 she was approached by the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Police Service of Northern Ireland

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary in Northern Ireland....

 and asked to hand over details about sources, which she refused to do. She has been supported by the National Union of Journalists

National Union of Journalists

The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...

and the Sunday Tribune. She has stated that her life could be in danger if she reveals her sources.

A judge has said that he was provisionally minded to grant the order to the PSNI.

In June 2009 the High Court in Belfast ruled in her favour, saying she didn't have to hand over her notes. She had been told by a third party that if she handed over her notes, her family and herself would be in danger from the Real IRA.