The Indo Daily: Gerry Adams – what €100K defamation win against the BBC means for his legacy, Sinn Féin and Irish media
A High Court jury delivered the verdict following a four-week trial in which Mr Adams claimed he was defamed by a BBC 'Spotlight' programme in which it was alleged he sanctioned the murder of an informer.
Afterwards, Mr Adams said he took the case to put 'manners' on the BBC.
The jury found that the BBC had defamed Mr Adams by suggesting he had sanctioned and approved the killing of Denis Donaldson, a Sinn Féin official who spied for Britain's MI5.
It also rejected defences put forward by the BBC that the allegation was published in good faith and that it was fair and reasonable to do so.
Mr Adams' legacy and how he will be viewed in the history books was very much at stake in the trial.
Has this landmark case set a precedent for how media organisations can cover the Troubles in the future?
Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Shane Phelan, Legal Affairs Editor with the Irish Independent, and by John Downing, Political Correspondent with the Irish Independent to go through the key proceedings of the trial and examine what the verdict means for Mr Adams, Sinn Féin, the BBC and the media at large.
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Irish Post
40 minutes ago
- Irish Post
Face to face with the Ulster warlord
I FIRST met Andy Tyrie, the leader of an armed loyalist group, who died last week, in 1986. A BBC religious affairs programme, Sunday Sequence on Radio Ulster, had started hiring me as a freelance reporter and interviewing Tyrie was one of my first jobs. He was of interest to a religious affairs programme because the producers thought he might have thoughts on how much loyalist violence against Catholics was religiously motivated. I had to travel to a part of Belfast I did not normally feel safe in, where the population was almost entirely Protestant and unionist. Esther who managed reception, pressed the buzzer to let me through the security gate and directed me up the stairs to Short Kesh. This was the joke name for Tyrie's office, a pun on Long Kesh, the site of the Maze prison which housed loyalist and republican convicts. I found Tyrie affable and witty. He was a stout and tawny man with dark hair and a thick moustache. I assumed that the loyalist sectarian marauders he governed had at least the good sense not to shoot a journalist, one who might air their case, if they had one. We spent a couple of hours talking and then I recorded the interview. We covered a lot of ground. His basic theory was that sectarian tension in Northern Ireland was about territory. Most working class Protestants lived in housing developments that were almost exclusively Protestant but the Catholic population was increasing and needed housing too. The Ulster Defence Association which he led was ostensibly about defending Northern Ireland, or Ulster as they called it, against the IRA. In reality it was more concerned to scare away Catholics who had moved into houses in what loyalists regarded as Protestant areas. We talked also about new ideas being developed at that time about loyalist culture. Tyrie said that loyalists had been surprised to see that republicans in the prisons were able to communicate using the Irish language. They realised that a coherent Irish culture reinforced the argument for Irish unity and the preservation of a singular Irish identity. To match that, loyalists had to explore their own identity. They were now taking an interest in Ulster Scots, a rural dialect that their forebears had brought from Scotland. Before I left Tyrie, one of his close colleagues came into the room. He remarked that I bore a strong resemblance to Jim Campbell, a former news editor of mine who had been shot and wounded by men of the UDA that Tyrie led, perhaps with Tyrie's approval. The new arrival said, 'Sometimes we drive past Campbell's house and wave to him just to scare the shite out of him.' This was closer to the raw humour of vicious people than the amicable chat I had been having with Tyrie. This man took from his pocket a large brass folding knife, opened it and held the blade up to my face. 'If we just cut off a bit of the beard here and another bit here, you'd look just like Jim Campbell,' he said. I edited the interview and it was broadcast at length. On the day after broadcast the production assistant called me and asked for Tyrie's address. The BBC, which paid interviewees back then, sent him a cheque for £83. A few weeks later, Terry Sharkie, my producer and I went to Moneymore to report on an Orange Ceili, one of those presentations of loyalist culture that Tyrie had spoken of. This was held in the ballroom of a hotel. Tyrie was there. I went over to talk to him and realised that the men around him were not happy with my presumption of familiarity. I said something light-hearted to Tyrie to evoke a similarly friendly response that would reassure these goons that I was no threat. Tyrie said nothing so I walked away. There was further embarrassment that night when I was called out to draw the raffle ticket for a clock made by a loyalist prisoner. This clock was built onto a brass map of Northern Ireland on a wooden plaque. I drew the ticket and to enormous embarrassment my producer Terry Sharkie had the winning ticket. There was stamping of feet and shouts of 'Fenian Fix! The Taigs have got the clock'. But Tyrie's people assured us we had won the clock fair and square and even invited us to stay on. I danced with one of the loyalist women in a cumbersome country waltz. 'We're not sectarian here,' she said. That clock sat on a filing cabinet in the BBC's religious affairs office for about three years and was then blown onto the floor by an IRA bomb in the street below us. In the year before my interview with Tyrie his organisation had shot and killed one Catholic. He was later usurped by more murderous younger members who raised that tally considerably after trying also, and failing, to kill Tyrie himself. Perhaps I had seen a hint of that emerging tension myself, between the cheery bloke that he was when we were alone together and the sterner figure he became when hard men were around. See More: Andy Tyrie, IRA, Ulster
RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Kim Kardashian to feature in new BBC documentary about Paris robbery
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian will feature in a new BBC documentary which will recount one of the most "publicised celebrity crimes of our time," when she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. This comes after a trial found eight people guilty over the robbery of the US star of millions of pounds worth of jewellery during the 2016 Paris Fashion Week. With interviews from friends, family, police officers and journalists who followed the case, The Kim Kardashian Diamond Heist will share new information about what happened leading up to the trial where she faced the robbers in court. Nasfim Haque, head of content at BBC Three, said: "This documentary offers an insight into one of the most publicised celebrity crimes of our time, committed on one of the most famous women on the planet, which will delve into the facts behind the gossip and explore the price of fame in the digital age." Produced by Firecracker Films, the 45-minute documentary will also share the impact the robbery has had on the star. Sam Emmery, creative director at Firecracker, said: "This is one of the most high-profile robberies of the digital age, with social media said to have played a part in the heist. "The film is an opportunity to show how the perpetrators were eventually brought to justice and the lasting impact the ordeal had on its victim, Kim Kardashian." The media personality is best known for starring in the reality TV series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which followed the lives of the Kardashian family. She is also known for being the co-founder of the shapewear clothing and underwear brand Skims, which is set to open its first UK store in London's Regent Street after signing a deal with the Crown Estate. Since launching in 2019, the brand has partnered with an array of celebrities including Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Usher and Jude Bellingham for advertising campaigns. The Kim Kardashian Diamond Heist will air on BBC Three and BBC One later this month and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
Irish Independent
6 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘Insulting' level in Cork of vacancy rates with 495 council houses currently empty
Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould slammed the government for allowing public homes to lie empty during the current housing emergency. 'There is nothing more insulting to those impacted by the Housing Emergency than the sight of a perfectly good home left empty. 'Each of these homes should have a family living in them, children growing up in those four walls. Instead, these homes are empty, and children are growing up in hotels. 'That is beyond scandalous,' Mr Gould said. The data was released to Sinn Féín by Cork City Council via Freedom of Information. 'Families in Cork are crying out for homes while perfectly good homes have been left to rot. We know that these cause dumping and anti-social behaviour. 'They stigmatise decent communities and for people in Cork they are a constant reminder of the government's failures,' he added. The data also confirms that 150 council houses are currently vacant in Cork county, with 114 houses empty for up to 12 months. 99 homes have been vacant in Cork city for longer than two years. 'Cork City and County Councils should be funded to do their job. Instead, red-tape and bureaucracy coupled with underfunding leave homes empty for years in Cork. '99 homes in Cork city have been empty for longer than 2 years. This is a scandal,' he added. Mr Gould said a Sinn Féin government would 'not stop' until long-term vacancy in council homes is ended. 'I can guarantee that a Sinn Féin government would not stop until long-term vacancy in Council homes has been ended. 'We would cut the red tape and end the bureaucracy. 'We would do everything to ensure that nobody watches homes rot while they cannot access secure accommodation,' he concluded. On June 21, members of the Raise the Roof campaign will take to the streets of Cork for a housing protest. The Raise the Roof campaign includes a wide group of organisations including political parties, unions who represent older people, students, families and people with disabilities. Protesters are asked to meet at the National Monument on Grand Parade at 2pm.
