As a result, the lives of many people were saved, people who had been targeted by the IRA and whom they intended to murder."He will argue in court that he was recruited by the RUC as a teenage petty criminal living in west Belfast.Mr McGartland will say that he was actively encouraged to join the Provisionals so that he could provide his handlers with high-grade intelligence.He has subpoenaed RUC Special Branch officers to appear and give evidence at the hearing.His criticisms of the RUC's treatment of its informers will alarm those still working undercover for special branch and is likely to deter future recruits.Mr McGartland nearly died when his role as a police agent was discovered by the IRA in August 1991.He was taken by two senior Sinn Fein officials to an isolated block of flats in the Twinbrook area of Belfast, where he was interrogated for eight hours.Fearing execution, he threw himself through a third-floor window, suffering horrific head injuries. He has spent the last five years in hiding, and has suffered flashbacks of his experiences.The Northern Ireland office is contesting Mr McGartland's claim, apparently on the grounds that he was an informer who belonged to an outlawed terrorist organisation.Mr McGartland has prepared statements, seen by this newspaper, which will outline the undercover role he played.He writes: "I was instructed by the Special Branch to infiltrate the senior echelon of the IRA command in Belfast. At the hearing, Martin McGartland, a former RUC Special Branch informer, will sue the Northern Ireland office for injuries suffered during two years of undercover work inside the IRA. Mr McGartland, 26, who is now living under a new identity, claims that he saved up to 50 lives by passing information to his police handlers about the planned activities of his IRA unit. The future of undercover police operations against the IRA is in jeopardy due to a hearing that will take place in a closed court in Northern Ireland tomorrow.

Rural unemployed will lose their right to sign on by post and will have to go to their nearest job centre every fortnight.Like Kelly Johnson, a growing body of part-time students could well find the benefits of vocational training are hard to keep in mind.. Only about 10 students a year have any success with such charities.This autumn students who cannot live with their own families could also be plagued with accommodation problems. Housing-benefit rules are being tightened up tomorrow so that single people under 25 will only be able to claim for what is considered a fair market rent in their area. You have got to remember what a risk an adult takes by coming back into education."Students enrolling at the college are given a list of charitable trusts to write to asking for donations. "We have cut all our classes, but when you are talking about adult students, with no achievements, they really need the maximum in tutorial support.