A SECURITY company linked to former Provisional IRA godfather John Noonan has been criticised for continuing to claim high-profile clients who deny having any dealings with it.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has asked that Strand Security Services (SSS) remove its logo from its website, which includes the association on its client list.

However, SSS denied it falsified any client relations and insisted it had worked for both the FAI and other companies, which have questioned their links to the security firm.

The company has long been linked to former IRA leader John Noonan, who was recently arrested for questioning in relation to the shooting of postman Robert Delaney in October 2008. The 29-year-old has remained in a vegetative state since the incident.

Earlier this year, the Sunday Tribune revealed Strand Security had claimed to have been employed by other well-known clients – including the Irish Film Board and Croke Park – whose names have since been removed.

A spokesman for SSS said at the time that the error had occurred as a result of an internet designer brought in to work on the page.

However, when the site recently reappeared, it again carried several logos, including those of the FAI, music promoter MCD and concert venue the O2, all of whom said they were unaware of having had any direct
relationship with the security
firm.

When contacted last week, a spokesman for SSS said it had sent a legal letter to the FAI with evidence that it had, in fact, worked as a security agent for it in the past.

"We are doing nothing wrong. We are working hard and we are tax compliant," he said.

"We worked for MCD [as well]; they put us on Oxegen. There are other security companies out there that wouldn't be as compliant as us."

However, in spite of these claims, an FAI spokesman said that it would move to ensure its logo was not listed among SSS's clients.

While not listed as a staff member, Noonan – who was a leading IRA member in Dublin in the 1980s – has long been associated with SSS.

His receipt of a private security licence sparked outrage in political circles given his past history.

However, SSS has long provided security on the sets of Irish film productions, including Angela's Ashes, The Butcher Boy and Intermission among others.

Noonan was arrested earlier this month as part of an investigation into the shooting of father-of-two Robert Delaney.

Delaney was leaning out his bedroom window when the shots were fired and has not regained consciousness since, nor is he ever likely to again.

Delaney is believed to have been targeted following a minor row in a pub and was in fear for his safety for some time before he was attacked.

Daniel Gaynor, who was suspected of pulling the trigger in the attack, was found dead in Finglas, north Dublin, last month.

Noonan was arrested at his home in Tallaght, south-west Dublin, and questioned over suspicions he was involved in the circumstances leading up to the shooting. He was eventually released without charge and a file on the attack was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Delaney's family have been leading a high-profile campaign to bring those responsible for the shooting to justice and have praised the ongoing efforts of gardaí. They have maintained a constant vigil by Robert's bedside but are reconciled with the probability that he will never recover from his horrendous injuries.