Latest news with #BBCNorthernIrelandSpotlight
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
BBC Ordered To Pay Irish Republican Politician Gerry Adams $113,000 After Losing Libel Case
The BBC has been ordered to pay €100,000 ($113,000) in damages to ex-Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams in a libel case about the murder of an Irish MI5 informant. Responding, the BBC said today's decision could 'hinder freedom of expression.' In a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight documentary that aired in 2016 plus an online article, Adams was identified by an anonymous contributor as sanctioning the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson, a member of Sinn Féin and volunteer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was then exposed as an MI5 informant and killed soon after. The Real IRA, which was distinct from the Provisional, claimed responsibility for his murder in 2009. More from Deadline BBC Presenter Gary Lineker Bids Emotional Farewell To 'Match Of The Day' After Controversial Exit Alan Yentob Dead: Arts Figures Pay Tribute To Influential BBC Arts Producer Following Death Aged 78 Ed Sheeran Makes Surprise Appearance At BBC Music Festival In Liverpool According to BBC News, Adams' legal bill is believed by sources to be between €3M to €5M. This would make the trial one of the most expensive cases the BBC has ever has always denied all involvement with Donaldson's murder and a hearing in Dublin today ordered the BBC to pay him €100,000. Adams is one of the most-well known Irish political figures of the modern era, who was President of Sinn Fein from 1983 to 2018. He had previously condemned the murder of Donaldson. Adams was witness to the trial that has taken place over the past five weeks, which saw the BBC argue a defence of fair and reasonable reporting on a matter of public interest. BBC News reported that the 11-person jury had to answer five questions. They answered 'yes' to whether the words in the programme 'mean Mr Adams sanctioned and approved Denis Donaldson's murder'. They answered the same to whether the news article accompanying the doc did the same. They answered 'no' to whether the BBC reported the allegations in good faith and they decided Adams should be awarded €100,000 upon being questioned over how much the damages were worth. Responding, BBC Northern Ireland Director Adam Smyth said the implications of the decision are 'profound' and 'could hinder freedom of expression.' 'As our legal team made clear, if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it's hard to see how anyone's could,' he added. 'We didn't want to come to court, but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision. Our past is difficult terrain for any jury and we thank them for their diligence and careful consideration of the issues in this case.' Smyth said his team 'believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial process and journalistic diligence applied to this programme,' while 'it was accepted by the court, and conceded by Gerry Adams' legal team, that the Spotlight broadcast and publication were of the highest public interest.' Spotlight's reporter Jennifer O'Leary added: 'I said in the witness box that I had nothing to hide, only sources to protect and I want to thank them for trusting me.'Best of Deadline Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Evening Standard
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Evening Standard
Gerry Adams tells defamation trial that BBC programme was ‘hatchet job'
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams outside the High Court in Dublin, where he is bringing a legal action against the BBC over allegations about the murder of an MI5 spy. Claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 over who sanctioned the killing of British spy Denis Donaldson. Mr Adams has denied the allegation that he had any involvement in ordering the murder. Picture date: Wednesday April 30, 2025. PA Wire
North Wales Chronicle
30-04-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Adams tells court he ‘liked but did not have many dealings' with British spy
The former Sinn Fein president said that Denis Donaldson was 'a victim of the conflict' and said the people who he was acting as an informer for had viewed him as 'expendable'. Mr Adams has begun a defamation case after claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 about who sanctioned the killing of Mr Donaldson, who was a British spy. Sinn Fein member Mr Donaldson, 55, was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties in Co Donegal in April 2006, months after being exposed as an informer. Mr Adams has denied the allegation that he had any involvement in ordering the murder. Opening the case on Tuesday, barrister for Mr Adams, Tom Hogan SC, said the reputation of Mr Adams as a 'peacemaker' suffered an 'unjustified' attack because of the broadcast of the BBC programme. At the end of the day Mr Adams entered the witness box and described his early political awakenings in Belfast in the 1960s. Continuing his evidence on Wednesday, Mr Adams told the court he first met Mr Donaldson in H-11 in Long Kesh prison. He said Mr Donaldson was not an internee and was a sentenced prisoner who 'had been there a long time'. He told the court he was not sure what Mr Donaldson did after his release, but believed he did some 'international work' before becoming an administrator for Sinn Fein's Stormont team. Asked whether he was an employee of Sinn Fein, Mr Adams replied 'I would say so'. 'I liked the guy and I knew him and I knew his wife and his daughter, Jane, but I didn't really have many dealings with him,' Mr Adams said. 'I would have been working at another level within the party.' He said that in 2002, a convoy of RUC Land Rovers arrived at Stormont, raided the Sinn Fein office and arrested Mr Donaldson and others. The arrests were made in relation to a claim of a republican spy-ring at Stormont, which Mr Adams said was 'complete nonsense'. After IRA decommissioning took place in the summer of 2005, he said Mr Donaldson and others who had been arrested had the charges against them dropped. 'But quite quickly after the charges were dropped it was revealed that he was an agent.' Mr Adams told the court: 'Denis Donaldson got a visit from the PSNI and he was given a piece of paper that alerted him to the fact that he was going to be named as an agent. 'The only people who could have revealed that were the people who were using him, his handlers, so the special branch who he was acting as an agent for.' Mr Adams said Mr Donaldson told Declan Kearney, of Sinn Fein's branch in Northern Ireland, who then informed Mr Adams. Mr Adams asked Mr Kearney to get in touch with Mr Donaldson and 'ascertain the truth of this'. He was interviewed by two senior members of the party, Mr Donaldson acknowledged that he was an informer, and he was dismissed, the court heard. 'Denis acknowledged that he had been an agent and he had been an agent for 20 years,' Mr Adams said. He said he was not in touch with Mr Donaldson after he left the party, and said he was 'shocked' when he received a phone call from the British secretary of state in April 2006 to say that Mr Donaldson had been found dead. By the time he got in touch with Mr Donaldson's family, it had been made public that Mr Donaldson had been killed. 'Personally I think that Denis Donaldson was a victim of the conflict,' he told the court. 'I don't see any other way of describing it.' Mr Donaldson's family members watched proceedings via videolink. Mr Adams also described political and civil developments in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s during proceedings on Wednesday. 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time,' he said. 'That's not to say that everything they did was legitimate.' His voice appeared to tremble at one point, as he spoke about the demands of the 1981 hunger strikers to wear their own clothes and receive an education. 'None of them wanted to die,' he said. He said that afterwards, he began speaking to Fr Alec Reid about 'an alternative way forward'. 'If we want the IRA to stop we have to produce an alternative,' he said. 'Let's get an alternative, and that became my mantra for a number of years,' he said.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Adams tells court he ‘liked but did not have many dealings' with British spy
Gerry Adams has said he 'liked but did not have many dealings' with a British spy, a Dublin court heard. The former Sinn Fein president said he viewed Denis Donaldson as 'a victim of the conflict' and said that his handlers saw him as 'expendable'. Mr Adams has begun a defamation case after claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 about who sanctioned the killing of Mr Donaldson, who was a British spy. Sinn Fein member Mr Donaldson, 55, was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties in Co Donegal in April 2006, months after being exposed as an informer. Mr Adams has denied the allegation that he had any involvement in ordering the murder. Opening the case on Tuesday, barrister for Mr Adams, Tom Hogan SC, said the reputation of Mr Adams as a 'peacemaker' suffered an 'unjustified' attack because of the broadcast of the BBC programme. At the end of the day Mr Adams entered the witness box and described his early political awakenings in Belfast in the 1960s. Continuing his evidence on Wednesday, Mr Adams told the court he first met Mr Donaldson in H-11 in Long Kesh prison. He said Mr Donaldson was not an internee and was a sentenced prisoner who 'had been there a long time'. He told the court he was not sure what Mr Donaldson did after his release, but believed he did some 'international work' before becoming an administrator for Sinn Fein's Stormont team. Asked whether he was an employee of Sinn Fein, Mr Adams replied 'I would say so'. 'I liked the guy and I knew him and I knew his wife and his daughter, Jane, but I didn't really have many dealings with him,' Mr Adams said. 'I would have been working at another level within the party.' He said that in 2002, a convoy of RUC Land Rovers arrived at Stormont, raided the Sinn Fein office and arrested Mr Donaldson and others. The arrests were made in relation to a claim of a republican spy-ring at Stormont, which Mr Adams said was 'complete nonsense'. After IRA decommissioning took place in the summer of 2005, he said Mr Donaldson and others who had been arrested had the charges against them dropped. 'But quite quickly after the charges were dropped it was revealed that he was an agent.' Mr Adams told the court: 'Denis Donaldson got a visit from the PSNI and he was given a piece of paper that alerted him to the fact that he was going to be named as an agent. 'The only people who could have revealed that were the people who were using him, his handlers, so the special branch who he was acting as an agent for.' Mr Adams said Mr Donaldson told Declan Kearney, of Sinn Fein's branch in Northern Ireland, who then informed Mr Adams. Mr Adams asked Mr Kearney to get in touch with Mr Donaldson and 'ascertain the truth of this'. He was interviewed by two senior members of the party, Mr Donaldson acknowledged that he was an informer, and he was dismissed, the court heard. 'Denis acknowledged that he had been an agent and he had been an agent for 20 years,' Mr Adams said. He said he was not in touch with Mr Donaldson after he left the party, and said he was 'shocked' when he received a phone call from the British secretary of state in April 2006 to say that Mr Donaldson had been found dead. By the time he got in touch with Mr Donaldson's family, it had been made public that Mr Donaldson had been killed. 'Personally I think that Denis Donaldson was a victim of the conflict,' he told the court. 'I don't see any other way of describing it.' Mr Donaldson's family members watched proceedings via videolink. Mr Adams also described political and civil developments in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s during proceedings on Wednesday. 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time,' he said. 'That's not to say that everything they did was legitimate.' His voice appeared to tremble at one point, as he spoke about the demands of the 1981 hunger strikers to wear their own clothes and receive an education. 'None of them wanted to die,' he said. He said that afterwards, he began speaking to Fr Alec Reid about 'an alternative way forward'. 'If we want the IRA to stop we have to produce an alternative,' he said. 'Let's get an alternative, and that became my mantra for a number of years,' he said.
Rhyl Journal
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Adams tells court he ‘liked but did not have many dealings' with British spy
The former Sinn Fein president said he operated at a different level in the party to Denis Donaldson, who worked as a Sinn Fein official in Northern Ireland. Mr Adams has begun a defamation case after claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 about who sanctioned the killing of Mr Donaldson, who was a British spy. Sinn Fein member Mr Donaldson, 55, was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties in Co Donegal in April 2006, months after being exposed as an informer. Mr Adams has denied the allegation that he had any involvement in ordering the murder. Opening the case on Tuesday, barrister for Mr Adams, Tom Hogan SC, said the reputation of Mr Adams as a 'peacemaker' suffered an 'unjustified' attack because of the broadcast of the BBC programme. At the end of the day Mr Adams entered the witness box and described his early political awakenings in Belfast in the 1960s. Continuing his evidence on Wednesday, Mr Adams told the court he first met Mr Donaldson in H-11 in Long Kesh prison. He said Mr Donaldson was not an internee and was a sentenced prisoner who 'had been there a long time'. He told the court he was not sure what Mr Donaldson did after his release, but believed he did some 'international work' before becoming an administrator for Sinn Fein's Stormont team. Asked whether he was an employee of Sinn Fein, Mr Adams replied 'I would say so'. 'I liked the guy and I knew him and I knew his wife and his daughter, Jane, but I didn't really have many dealings with him,' Mr Adams said. 'I would have been working at another level within the party.' He said that in 2002, a convoy of RUC Land Rovers arrived at Stormont, raided the Sinn Fein office and arrested Mr Donaldson and others. The arrests were made in relation to a claim of a republican spy-ring at Stormont, which Mr Adams said was 'complete nonsense'. After IRA decommissioning took place in the summer of 2005, he said Mr Donaldson and others who had been arrested had the charges against them dropped. 'But quite quickly after the charges were dropped it was revealed that he was an agent.' Mr Adams told the court: 'Denis Donaldson got a visit from the PSNI and he was given a piece of paper that alerted him to the fact that he was going to be named as an agent. 'The only people who could have revealed that were the people who were using him, his handlers, so the special branch who he was acting as an agent for.' Mr Adams said Mr Donaldson told Declan Kearney, of Sinn Fein's branch in Northern Ireland, who then informed Mr Adams. Mr Adams asked Mr Kearney to get in touch with Mr Donaldson and 'ascertain the truth of this'. He was interviewed by two senior members of the party, Mr Donaldson acknowledged that he was an informer, and he was dismissed, the court heard. 'Denis acknowledged that he had been an agent and he had been an agent for 20 years,' Mr Adams said. He said he was not in touch with Mr Donaldson after he left the party, and said he was 'shocked' when he received a phone call from the British secretary of state in April 2006 to say that Mr Donaldson had been found dead. By the time he got in touch with Mr Donaldson's family, it had been made public that Mr Donaldson had been killed. 'Personally I think that Denis Donaldson was a victim of the conflict,' he told the court. 'I don't see any other way of describing it.' Mr Donaldson's family members watched proceedings via videolink. Mr Adams also described political and civil developments in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s during proceedings on Wednesday. 'I do think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening at the time,' he said. 'That's not to say that everything they did was legitimate.' His voice appeared to tremble at one point, as he spoke about the demands of the 1981 hunger strikers to wear their own clothes and receive an education. 'None of them wanted to die,' he said. He said that afterwards, he began speaking to Fr Alec Reid about 'an alternative way forward'. 'If we want the IRA to stop we have to produce an alternative,' he said. 'Let's get an alternative, and that became my mantra for a number of years,' he said.
