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North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
What Gerry Adams said during seven days of evidence in BBC defamation trial
The jury at Dublin High Court heard hours of evidence from the former Sinn Fein leader. His testimony was wide-ranging, including a lengthy account of his early years and political awakenings. At times he became emotional as he recalled past events. Mr Adams' arrival at the Four Courts caused a stir each morning. The posse of media cameras was always there to meet him and he was greeted by the occasional well-wisher at the gates of the court. However, inside there were fewer pleasantries as the 67-year-old faced days of tense questioning by a barrister for the BBC, probing the senior republican's recollection around a series of IRA atrocities. The marathon evidence session began on the afternoon of the first day of the defamation case as the former MP and TD was invited by his own barrister, Declan Doyle SC, to tell the jury about his upbringing during a time of turmoil on the streets of Belfast. Trial judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens indulged the reminiscences to an extent before gently urging Mr Doyle to quicken his pace of questioning. Describing political and civil developments in the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Adams said: 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time.' Soon attention turned to the Spotlight programme that led Mr Adams to sue the BBC over allegation that he sanctioned the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson, a Sinn Fein official who had been exposed as a spy. Mr Adams told the court he remembered watching the programme and being 'astonished' at what he called 'an attempted hatchet job' and 'bad, poor journalism'. He described the BBC response when he attempted to raise a complaint as arrogant and insulting. He said: 'This is a public broadcaster. The public pay for all of this. 'They just dismissed it (the complaint), it was offensive, it was insulting and it is what has all of us here today.' The tone of questioning changed dramatically at the end of the first week of the trial when Paul Gallagher SC, acting for the BBC, began his cross-examination of the former Sinn Fein president. The courtroom was packed as Ireland's former attorney general rose to commence the questioning. His direction became clear at once when Mr Gallagher asked Mr Adams how many people had been killed in the Troubles and how many were victims of the IRA. 'A lot – what has this got to do with the Spotlight programme?' Mr Adams responded. The barrister listed some of the most infamous episodes of Northern Ireland's past – Bloody Friday, the Claudy bombings, La Mon – and asked Mr Adams how many victims were killed in each. Mr Adams responded that it was not fair to ask him to remember every death that occurred, adding: 'You're trivialising those deaths, if you don't mind me saying so.' As the line of questioning continued into the second week of the trial, Mr Adams complained that an attempt was being made to 'smother' the jury in history. He repeatedly said he would not speculate when asked about members, structures or rules of the IRA. 'What on earth has this got to do with Denis Donaldson?' Mr Adams asked on several occasions as the cross-examination went on. Under questioning, the former Sinn Fein leader said: 'I have never resiled from my view that the IRA's campaign, whatever about elements of it, was a legitimate response to military occupation.' He told the jury that IRA membership 'wasn't a path that I took', saying he instead joined Sinn Fein, adding that the republican party 'was not the political wing of any organisation'. He conceded that claims about about him being a member of the Army Council of the IRA had been raised multiple times in public. He said he had repeatedly received legal advice that he would 'not get any sort of a fair hearing' to challenge various claims made about him in the press. At one point Mr Adams turned the questioning on Mr Gallagher: 'Why are you trying to persuade the jury I have no reputation whatsoever?' Mr Adams said the Spotlight programme suggested his work to end violence in Northern Ireland 'was a scam' and he considered this to be a 'lie' and 'grievous smear'. On his final day of questioning, it was put to Mr Adams that he had carried the coffins of prominent IRA members during their funerals. He replied: 'You're trying to persuade this jury I had no reputation whatsoever because I attended funerals? 'And therefore Spotlight could say whatever they want about me and I would have no redress?' Asked by the judge for his reflections on the IRA's campaign of violence, Mr Adams added: 'My big regret is that so many people were killed and particularly civilians. 'My abiding regret is that it took so long to get a peace process together.' The questioning concluded. The jury had heard Mr Adams' legal team describe his reputation as that of a peacemaker. The BBC barristers argued that it was 'universally held' that he had a reputation of being in the IRA and on its Army Council. The former Sinn Fein president's barrister Tom Hogan SC summed up the paradox when he said: 'To some he is a hero, to some he is not.'
North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Jury heard contrasting evidence about Gerry Adams' reputation
One witness said Mr Adams had a reputation of 'seriousness and dependability', while another said it was of a 'warmonger'. Contrasting evidence was also heard about the BBC Spotlight programme that originally broadcast the allegation that Mr Adams sanctioned the murder of British agent Denis Donaldson. One expert media witness said the broadcast did not meet the corporation's editorial thresholds of responsible journalism, while another said it was not unfair or unjust. While the focus of attention in the high-profile trial concentrated on the evidence of Mr Adams and Spotlight journalist Jennifer O'Leary, several other witnesses gave evidence over four weeks. Mr Adams' legal team called the former solicitor for the Donaldson family, Ciaran Shiels, as a witness. He told the jury he had had contact with the BBC team before the Spotlight programme was broadcast. Asked what he would have said to Ms O'Leary if she had put to him the allegation against Mr Adams, Mr Shiels said: 'I would have said to her that not only was she barking up the wrong tree, she wasn't even in the right orchard.' Mr Adams' team then called John Martin O'Loan, who has previously held roles involving senior editorial responsibility, including by establishing Sky News, as an expert on journalistic standards. He told the court: 'The BBC did not meet the editorial thresholds of responsible journalism in its inclusion and presentation of the solo anonymous allegations against Mr Adams.' He said the segment of the Spotlight programme containing the allegation that Mr Adams sanctioned the killing 'lacked sufficient editorial veracity to be published'. Former US congressman Bruce Morrison, who worked with Bill Clinton on Northern Ireland's peace process, gave his evidence by videolink from Bethesda, Maryland. Mr Morrison said Mr Adams was a controversial figure but his reputation was one of a 'serious man on a serious mission who was committed to' the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. He said his impression of Mr Adams' reputation was that he was an 'elder statesmen' and 'distinguished leader' who had made an 'extraordinary contribution' to change in Northern Ireland. The BBC's legal team also dealt with the Spotlight broadcast and Mr Adams' reputation when it called witnesses to give evidence. Chris Banatvala, who drew up the UK's broadcasting rules for Ofcom and was its founding director of standards, compiled a report based on the Spotlight programme. He told the jury: 'What I have written is, on balance, given the significant public interest, what information is already in the public domain about Gerry Adams, the fact that the BBC reasonably believed its primary source, 'Martin', to be credible and reliable, that the BBC had corroborative evidence from other credible and multiple sources. 'It was couched in terms of allegations, there was an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond, the programme would probably not be found in breach and not be unfair or unjust to Mr Adams.' Campaigners for Troubles victims, Ann Travers and Trevor Ringland, described Mr Adams as as a 'warmonger' and 'peace taker'. Ms Travers' sister Mary was killed by the Provisional IRA in an attack in which her father Tom Travers, who was a lawyer who became a magistrate in 1979, was also shot six times. Asked about Mr Adams, she said: 'His reputation would be one of having been a warmonger.' Asked to explain why, she replied: 'For the Troubles, supporting the IRA and the murder of innocent people.' Mr Ringland, a former Irish rugby international, told the jury his father was shot by the IRA. Asked for the public's perception of Mr Adams, he replied: 'He is seen as a peace taker, not a peacemaker.' He added: 'I think the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland would regard him as a peace taker.' Former Irish attorney general Michael McDowell was called by the BBC to speak about Mr Adams' reputation. He said: 'Amongst the public, he is known as a politician now who was a leading member of the IRA and who was active in the IRA during the period of its armed struggle against the forces of law and order on this island.' He added: 'He is reputed to have been a chief negotiator in, I think, 1974 between the provisional movement and the British government and thereafter he was reputed to have a role in the Belfast IRA as its commanding officer. 'Later he was reputed to have become a member of the Army Council of the IRA.' Referring to the time of the peace process, he said: 'During that period, the view of the (Irish) government based on intelligence briefings was that Mr Adams was a member of the Army Council and was a leading member of the Army Council.' Asked about Mr Adams' reputation among politicians more generally, he added: 'I've never met any politician who did not believe he was a leading member of the IRA during its 'armed struggle', as it calls it, and thereafter he was a dominant figure within Army Council.'
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against BBC over claim he sanctioned killing
Advertisement In the BBC program, broadcast in September 2016, an anonymous source claimed the shooting was sanctioned by the political and military leadership of the IRA and that Adams gave 'the final say.' Adams denies involvement and called the allegation a 'grievous smear.' Adams' lawyer, Paul Tweed, said outside the court that his client was 'relieved and satisfied' that jurors had reached 'the unequivocal conclusion that the subject allegation was highly defamatory.' Adams, 76, is one of the most influential figures of Northern Ireland's decades of conflict, and its peace process. He led Sinn Fein, the party linked to the Irish Republican Army, between 1983 and 2018. He has always denied being an IRA member, though former colleagues have said he was one of its leaders. Advertisement Speaking after the ruling, Adams said: 'I've always been satisfied with my reputation. Obviously, like yourself, we all have flaws in our character, but the jury made the decision and let's accept the outcome, and I think let's accept what the jury said.' Adams was able to sue in the Republic of Ireland because people there could watch the BBC Northern Ireland program. Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, said the program had been made with 'careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence.' He said the implications of the jury's verdict were 'profound.' 'As our legal team made clear, if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it is hard to see how anyone's could, and they warned how today's decision would hinder freedom of expression,' Smyth said. Around 3,600 people were killed in 'the Troubles,' Northern Ireland's three decades of violence involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants and U.K. soldiers. The IRA stopped fighting and disarmed after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely ended the violence, though small splinter groups opposed to the peace process continued to mount occasional attacks. A splinter group known as the Real IRA claimed responsibility in 2009 for killing Donaldson. An Irish police investigation remains ongoing. Lawyers for the BBC argued that the documentary didn't claim that Adams had sanctioned murder, merely putting that forward as an allegation alongside Adams' denial. They also argued the program didn't harm Adams' reputation, because he was widely considered to have been an IRA commander and so had little reputation to lose.
Leader Live
a day ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
What Gerry Adams said during seven days of evidence in BBC defamation trial
The jury at Dublin High Court heard hours of evidence from the former Sinn Fein leader. His testimony was wide-ranging, including a lengthy account of his early years and political awakenings. At times he became emotional as he recalled past events. Mr Adams' arrival at the Four Courts caused a stir each morning. The posse of media cameras was always there to meet him and he was greeted by the occasional well-wisher at the gates of the court. However, inside there were fewer pleasantries as the 67-year-old faced days of tense questioning by a barrister for the BBC, probing the senior republican's recollection around a series of IRA atrocities. The marathon evidence session began on the afternoon of the first day of the defamation case as the former MP and TD was invited by his own barrister, Declan Doyle SC, to tell the jury about his upbringing during a time of turmoil on the streets of Belfast. Trial judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens indulged the reminiscences to an extent before gently urging Mr Doyle to quicken his pace of questioning. Describing political and civil developments in the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Adams said: 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time.' Soon attention turned to the Spotlight programme that led Mr Adams to sue the BBC over allegation that he sanctioned the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson, a Sinn Fein official who had been exposed as a spy. Mr Adams told the court he remembered watching the programme and being 'astonished' at what he called 'an attempted hatchet job' and 'bad, poor journalism'. He described the BBC response when he attempted to raise a complaint as arrogant and insulting. He said: 'This is a public broadcaster. The public pay for all of this. 'They just dismissed it (the complaint), it was offensive, it was insulting and it is what has all of us here today.' The tone of questioning changed dramatically at the end of the first week of the trial when Paul Gallagher SC, acting for the BBC, began his cross-examination of the former Sinn Fein president. The courtroom was packed as Ireland's former attorney general rose to commence the questioning. His direction became clear at once when Mr Gallagher asked Mr Adams how many people had been killed in the Troubles and how many were victims of the IRA. 'A lot – what has this got to do with the Spotlight programme?' Mr Adams responded. The barrister listed some of the most infamous episodes of Northern Ireland's past – Bloody Friday, the Claudy bombings, La Mon – and asked Mr Adams how many victims were killed in each. Mr Adams responded that it was not fair to ask him to remember every death that occurred, adding: 'You're trivialising those deaths, if you don't mind me saying so.' As the line of questioning continued into the second week of the trial, Mr Adams complained that an attempt was being made to 'smother' the jury in history. He repeatedly said he would not speculate when asked about members, structures or rules of the IRA. 'What on earth has this got to do with Denis Donaldson?' Mr Adams asked on several occasions as the cross-examination went on. Under questioning, the former Sinn Fein leader said: 'I have never resiled from my view that the IRA's campaign, whatever about elements of it, was a legitimate response to military occupation.' He told the jury that IRA membership 'wasn't a path that I took', saying he instead joined Sinn Fein, adding that the republican party 'was not the political wing of any organisation'. He conceded that claims about about him being a member of the Army Council of the IRA had been raised multiple times in public. He said he had repeatedly received legal advice that he would 'not get any sort of a fair hearing' to challenge various claims made about him in the press. At one point Mr Adams turned the questioning on Mr Gallagher: 'Why are you trying to persuade the jury I have no reputation whatsoever?' Mr Adams said the Spotlight programme suggested his work to end violence in Northern Ireland 'was a scam' and he considered this to be a 'lie' and 'grievous smear'. On his final day of questioning, it was put to Mr Adams that he had carried the coffins of prominent IRA members during their funerals. He replied: 'You're trying to persuade this jury I had no reputation whatsoever because I attended funerals? 'And therefore Spotlight could say whatever they want about me and I would have no redress?' Asked by the judge for his reflections on the IRA's campaign of violence, Mr Adams added: 'My big regret is that so many people were killed and particularly civilians. 'My abiding regret is that it took so long to get a peace process together.' The questioning concluded. The jury had heard Mr Adams' legal team describe his reputation as that of a peacemaker. The BBC barristers argued that it was 'universally held' that he had a reputation of being in the IRA and on its Army Council. The former Sinn Fein president's barrister Tom Hogan SC summed up the paradox when he said: 'To some he is a hero, to some he is not.'
Rhyl Journal
a day ago
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
What Gerry Adams said during seven days of evidence in BBC defamation trial
The jury at Dublin High Court heard hours of evidence from the former Sinn Fein leader. His testimony was wide-ranging, including a lengthy account of his early years and political awakenings. At times he became emotional as he recalled past events. Mr Adams' arrival at the Four Courts caused a stir each morning. The posse of media cameras was always there to meet him and he was greeted by the occasional well-wisher at the gates of the court. However, inside there were fewer pleasantries as the 67-year-old faced days of tense questioning by a barrister for the BBC, probing the senior republican's recollection around a series of IRA atrocities. The marathon evidence session began on the afternoon of the first day of the defamation case as the former MP and TD was invited by his own barrister, Declan Doyle SC, to tell the jury about his upbringing during a time of turmoil on the streets of Belfast. Trial judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens indulged the reminiscences to an extent before gently urging Mr Doyle to quicken his pace of questioning. Describing political and civil developments in the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Adams said: 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time.' Soon attention turned to the Spotlight programme that led Mr Adams to sue the BBC over allegation that he sanctioned the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson, a Sinn Fein official who had been exposed as a spy. Mr Adams told the court he remembered watching the programme and being 'astonished' at what he called 'an attempted hatchet job' and 'bad, poor journalism'. He described the BBC response when he attempted to raise a complaint as arrogant and insulting. He said: 'This is a public broadcaster. The public pay for all of this. 'They just dismissed it (the complaint), it was offensive, it was insulting and it is what has all of us here today.' The tone of questioning changed dramatically at the end of the first week of the trial when Paul Gallagher SC, acting for the BBC, began his cross-examination of the former Sinn Fein president. The courtroom was packed as Ireland's former attorney general rose to commence the questioning. His direction became clear at once when Mr Gallagher asked Mr Adams how many people had been killed in the Troubles and how many were victims of the IRA. 'A lot – what has this got to do with the Spotlight programme?' Mr Adams responded. The barrister listed some of the most infamous episodes of Northern Ireland's past – Bloody Friday, the Claudy bombings, La Mon – and asked Mr Adams how many victims were killed in each. Mr Adams responded that it was not fair to ask him to remember every death that occurred, adding: 'You're trivialising those deaths, if you don't mind me saying so.' As the line of questioning continued into the second week of the trial, Mr Adams complained that an attempt was being made to 'smother' the jury in history. He repeatedly said he would not speculate when asked about members, structures or rules of the IRA. 'What on earth has this got to do with Denis Donaldson?' Mr Adams asked on several occasions as the cross-examination went on. Under questioning, the former Sinn Fein leader said: 'I have never resiled from my view that the IRA's campaign, whatever about elements of it, was a legitimate response to military occupation.' He told the jury that IRA membership 'wasn't a path that I took', saying he instead joined Sinn Fein, adding that the republican party 'was not the political wing of any organisation'. He conceded that claims about about him being a member of the Army Council of the IRA had been raised multiple times in public. He said he had repeatedly received legal advice that he would 'not get any sort of a fair hearing' to challenge various claims made about him in the press. At one point Mr Adams turned the questioning on Mr Gallagher: 'Why are you trying to persuade the jury I have no reputation whatsoever?' Mr Adams said the Spotlight programme suggested his work to end violence in Northern Ireland 'was a scam' and he considered this to be a 'lie' and 'grievous smear'. On his final day of questioning, it was put to Mr Adams that he had carried the coffins of prominent IRA members during their funerals. He replied: 'You're trying to persuade this jury I had no reputation whatsoever because I attended funerals? 'And therefore Spotlight could say whatever they want about me and I would have no redress?' Asked by the judge for his reflections on the IRA's campaign of violence, Mr Adams added: 'My big regret is that so many people were killed and particularly civilians. 'My abiding regret is that it took so long to get a peace process together.' The questioning concluded. The jury had heard Mr Adams' legal team describe his reputation as that of a peacemaker. The BBC barristers argued that it was 'universally held' that he had a reputation of being in the IRA and on its Army Council. The former Sinn Fein president's barrister Tom Hogan SC summed up the paradox when he said: 'To some he is a hero, to some he is not.'
