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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Gerry Adams bet big, won big. What does the libel victory over the BBC mean for his legacy?
Gerry Adams gambled big and won big . Not quite as big as he wanted but big. He was seeking more than €200,000 in damages but €100,000 is a statement he will feel vindicates his reputation. 'Peacemaker' or 'peacetaker'? That was the question the Dublin jury had to decide about Adams in his libel case against the BBC . Mr Justice Alexander Owens may have framed the questions differently, but that is what it boiled down to. READ MORE In the end, the jury saw peace processor above paramilitary in a man who has always denied ever being a member of the Provisional IRA . Days before the jury retired to consider its judgment, one senior Belfast lawyer said he felt it was 'complete lunacy' that the former Sinn Féin president took such a case. 'He is taking a huge risk,' he believed. Most of the audience for the BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme that carried the allegation that Adams sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson was in the North but the King's Counsel (KC) wasn't surprised that Adams's legal team pursued the claim for defamation in Dublin's High Court because it would have been a much bigger risk taking the case in the North. And then the KC began to reconsider. But this was a Southern jury with a different experience and perhaps a different perspective. The predominantly younger age profile of the jury – aged 25 to 35 – suggests that they may have had no real contemporaneous memory of the death, misery and horror the IRA inflicted with Adams, allegedly, as one of its senior leaders. The same lawyer, reflecting a bit more, then took note of how among Adams's legal team was Paul Tweed, solicitor to international film and rock stars and celebrities. He has represented the likes of Hollywood stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and singers Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears, and is viewed as one of the most feared defamation lawyers in the business. 'Paul Tweed wouldn't have taken this case on unless he thought he had a reasonable crack at winning it,' mused the KC, having second thoughts. And so it proved. Adams bet the house and grabbed the pot. Writer and broadcaster Malachi O'Doherty, author of an unauthorised biography of Adams, said this victory would satisfy Adams's large ego and vanity. [ Book review: Gerry Adams – An Unauthorised Life by Malachi O'Doherty Opens in new window ] 'He will feel morally vindicated by the result. He will feel good about himself,' he said. O'Doherty, who last year had a libel case brought against him by Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly thrown out by the High Court as 'scandalous, frivolous and vexatious' , also suspected that it 'would inject confidence back into the whole Sinn Féin strategy of using the defamation laws' against the media. Entering Adams's twilight zone Gerry Adams outside Dublin's High Court on May 21st. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire When dealing with Adams, there is often that sense of entering a twilight zone where truth and reality are blurred. He took the libel case against the BBC because, as he said, the Spotlight current affairs programme broadcast a lie in alleging he sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson. Yet, in giving his evidence he swore an oath that he would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And soon into his cross-examination we were back into his again denying that he was in the IRA or that for many years he served on its ruling army council. Whatever about south of the Border, there is hardly a person in Belfast, or indeed in Northern Ireland – or indeed any republican living on or off the Falls Road who lends credence to that claim. For Sinn Féin and IRA supporters generally, they just shrug their shoulders and say that if Adams feels that his denial of IRA membership is something he must persist with, then so be it. 'Gerry knows best,' tends to be the response of the faithful. Some regular challenges to his claim he was never in the IRA were raised by counsel for the BBC. They include how in 1972 he was released from internment so he could be part of a delegation flown to London to discuss with senior British government representatives how to end the IRA campaign of violence. As usual, he said he was in London representing the Sinn Féin leadership and not the IRA. He has issued so many such denials over the years that repeating them would have been a cakewalk for Adams in the witness box. But still, surely inwardly, he bridled at the manner in which former minister of justice and attorney general Michael McDowell dealt with these denials when called to give evidence on behalf of the BBC. In cross-examination John Kerr, a barrister for Adams, put it to McDowell that he made no secret of his hatred of Sinn Féin. 'Hatred is one way of putting it,' McDowell said in agreement. McDowell allowed that Adams played a 'central role' in achieving the 1998 Belfast Agreement, as did others, but said that he 'represented himself entirely falsely in my view as a go-between between the IRA and the political process, whereas in fact he was the dominant character in the IRA at that time'. McDowell couldn't resist another dig in granting Adams 'the credit of common sense' of recognising that the IRA had been defeated. That would have irked Adams who holds to the line the IRA was never defeated. Now, Adams will likely feel, following that joust with McDowell, that he who laughs last laughs longest. A damaging blow for the BBC BBC Spotlight reporter Jennifer O'Leary speaking to the media after the High Court found the broacaster defamed Gerry Adams. Photograph: Collins Courts The BBC, and its flagship investigative programme Spotlight have been hit a damaging blow and will have a lot to consider this weekend. Adams has succeeded, as he said during the trial, in 'putting manners' on them. Spotlight reporter Jennifer O'Leary pursued the story when contacts told her the IRA had murdered Donaldson and 'let dissidents make the claim of responsibility', with Adams allegedly sanctioning the murder that was carried out near Glenties in Co Donegal in 2006. It wasn't until 2009 that the Real IRA said it was responsible for the killing of Donaldson who – while secretly working for MI5, the RUC and later the Police Service of Northern Ireland - ran the Sinn Féin office at Stormont where he worked shoulder to shoulder with Adams and Martin McGuinness. It is worth mentioning that the judge decided against permitting evidence from three witnesses the BBC wanted to put forward to assist its case. One of them was Jane Donaldson, daughter of Denis Donaldson. In the absence of the jury, she said that the family had an 'open mind' on who killed her father and did not believe the claim by the Real IRA that it was responsible. She said that 'bogus claim of responsibility' by a single Real IRA source in 2009 three years after the killing lacked all credibility. The detail in the admission 'didn't correlate with an awful lot of the sensitive and confidential information we'd gathered from the gardaí', she said. The judge, however, found that this evidence wasn't 'terribly relevant' to the issues to be decided by the jury so she did not get to make these points with the jury present in the courtroom. Personality always has served Adams well, as has his sense of humour. For some during the bloody years of the Troubles, he and the late McGuinness, another leader who disavowed much of his IRA past, were characterised as romanticised Fidel Castro- and Che Guevara-type figures. Adams's courtroom tactics that triggered laughter Since handing over the leadership to Mary Lou McDonald, Adams has morphed into more of an avuncular sometimes whimsical person but also a grand venerable of the republican movement. In court that was how he was portrayed and how he portrayed himself. The BBC lawyers, in playing to the IRA leadership allegation, also referred to Adams in the early 1970s shouldering the coffin of an old republican while wearing the black beret associated with IRA membership. Adams said he did not recognise this as 'effectively' the IRA's uniform, as it was put to him. He then reflected that from the picture he looked like the ineffectual Frank Spencer character in the old TV comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. That triggered laughter in court. Adams deployed the same tactic when asked about the Disney series Say Nothing by New Yorker journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. No, he hadn't seen it. [ Say Nothing: Bingeable yet sober-minded eulogy for the tragedy of the Troubles Opens in new window ] 'Life's too short to watch Disney, especially when it is dealing with serious issues,' he replied. That too seemed to go down well with some members of the jury. It also may have deflected them from the serious allegation in Say Nothing that he was a pivotal figure in the decision to abduct, murder and secretly bury or disappear Jean McConville, the widowed mother of 10 children, an allegation that he has always rejected. [ Family of Jean McConville criticise 'hurtful' Disney+ dramatisation Opens in new window ] His gentle canter through his life story at the outset of the hearing also allowed him to play to his theatrical strengths. He seemed to impress the jury with the stories of discrimination, Ian Paisley, the civil rights movement, the actions of the B-Specials, and so on. Here too he could present himself as just a regular-type guy whose 'biggest ambition was to win an All-Ireland with the Antrim hurling team'. Former US congressman Bruce Morrison gave evidence for Adams via video link from near Washington, DC, describing him as an 'elder statesman' and a 'serious man on a serious mission' to achieve peace. Singer and friend Christy Moore spent a couple of hours in the court on one of the days and took time to chat with him outside the court, which allowed photographers grab some useful pictures. 'Peacemaker' or 'peacetaker'? The BBC, as well as McDowell, offered their own witnesses with a different take on the life and times of Adams. Ann Travers, whose sister was shot dead and her father seriously wounded by the IRA, as they were leaving Mass in south Belfast in 1984 described Adams as a 'warmonger' who was 'heavily involved' in the murder of innocent people. Adams, she said, had 'cast a long and dark shadow' over her life. She 'would even have a fear of him', she added. Former Ireland rugby international and solicitor Trevor Ringland said Adams had a reputation as a 'peacetaker' rather than a 'peacemaker'. In the end, the 'peacemaker' argument took precedence with the jury, it seems. There are many who will have different views, but that will hardly bother Adams this weekend. The stakes were huge and he carried the day. The jury's verdict will boost his legacy and his vanity. A win is a win is a win.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Mick Clifford: Gerry Adams's case against the BBC shows rewriting of the past continues apace
Gerry Adams had a big victory on Friday in the High Court. A jury decided that he had been defamed in a BBC Spotlight programme which had alleged that he had sanctioned the murder of informer Denis Donaldson in 2006. Mr Donaldson had been unmasked as an informer months previous to his murder in a cottage in Donegal. The BBC programme and an accompanying website article was published in 2016. The jury awarded Mr Adams €100,000. The amount is far from the biggest ever awarded in a High Court libel trial. For instance in 2009, communication consultant Monica Leech was awarded €1.87m, later reduced to €1.25m, over a newspaper article that falsely made allegations about her private life. Last December, a judge in the High Court awarded €140,000 to the businessman and presidential candidate Peter Casey over a Facebook post that made false allegations about accommodation he was providing for Ukrainians. Parsing how a jury arrived at an amount is next to impossible, but being falsely accused of sanctioning a murder has to be one of the most grievous wrongs that could be visited on a reputation. Much of the BBC's defence relied on its contention that Mr Adams had been a senior member of the Provisional IRA. He has always denied this. His counsel repeatedly stated that the former Sinn Féin president has a reputation as a 'peacemaker'. Moral force of the Provisional IRA One of the most interesting aspects to the trial was the evidence Mr Adams gave about his interpretation of the violence in the North, and particularly that the Provisional IRA acted with moral force. The evidence he gave, it could be argued, provided ballast to his contention that he was never in the IRA simply because it suggested he hadn't a clue what the Provos were up to. In the witness box Mr Adams said it had been his consistent position for 50 years that the IRA's campaign was 'a legitimate response to military occupation' but that 'civilians' should not be killed. Gerry Adams (centre) outside the High Court in Dublin today. Mr Adams told the court that it was his position that civilians should not be killed, yet civilians were murdered at will by the IRA. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA If the IRA's campaign was about 'military occupation', what would they have done if the Brits had been chased back across the Irish Sea? Continued killing those locally who consider themselves British until they succumbed to the nirvana of a socialist all-Ireland entity? Contrary to the myths, getting the Brits out was not the overall objective. Fomenting civil war until the one million Protestants were battered into accepting a united Ireland was the ultimate aim. Mr Adams told the court that it was his position that civilians should not be killed, yet civilians were murdered at will by the IRA. The Provos murdered in the region of 1,700 people over the 25 years of violence. Of those, roughly 470 were British soldiers. (Various statistics have been compiled, all differ but only by very small margins). The most consistent number used for civilians killed by the Provos was 644. They murdered far more Irish civilians than British soldiers. Among the civilians they were responsible for were the deaths of either 337 or 338 Catholics, drawn from the community the Provos claimed they were defending. Statistics are a guide, not the full narrative. But the illusion that the Provisional IRA were primarily focused on killing British soldiers as part of an 'armed struggle' to end military occupation is completely at odds with the violence it engaged in. Planting bombs in public places was a strategy of the organisation that persisted from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. This was conducted primarily to terrorise the civilian population into accepting the Provos' will. Frequently, children were murdered in these bombings. How this might sit with an 'armed struggle' is anyone's guess. Pearse and Connolly Elsewhere in his evidence, it was put to Mr Adams by the BBC's lawyer Paul Gallagher that the Provos had no mandate to commit the 'atrocities' they were engaged in. Mr Adams replied: 'Pádraig Pearse. James Connolly. The men and women who went out in 1916, they had no mandate for what they were doing.' By all accounts he kept a straight face when he delivered this apparent insight into history. Pearse and Connolly took up arms during the Imperial age, against a power that ruled almost exclusively by force. Human life and violence were regarded through a much different lens. The death penalty was in common use. There was no UN, no declaration of human rights, no universal franchise. Violence was deployed as a tool of first instance. Director of BBC Northern Ireland, Adam Smyth and journalist Jennifer O'Leary outside the High Court in Dublin, after Gerry Adams was awarded €100,000 in damages. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Pearse and Connolly didn't commit any atrocity. They held positions for a week and surrendered to save the lives of others. They sacrificed their own lives. The Provo leaders continued to dispatch volunteers to kill and die for a united Ireland decades after they knew it could never be achieved. Prior to Easter 1916, Pearse and Connolly provided input into a Proclamation that pledged to 'cherish all the children of the nation equally'. This was a specific reference to the Protestant population in the northeast of the island. The Provos, by contrast, bombed Irishmen and Irishwomen indiscriminately for over 25 years. At one stage they conducted a concerted campaign to ethnically cleanse border areas of Protestants, which was their version of cherishing such children equally. The Provisional IRA also terrorised the communities from which they were drawn. They justified, much as the Isrealis do today, any atrocity on the basis that it was necessary for a greater goal. While the violence persisted, and even when it was officially over, they continued to behave as if they were an organised crime gang, robbing, executing grudge murders, intimidating and assaulting citizens who refused to bend to their will. This went on for up to a decade after the 'republican movement' pledged to pursue its pollical aim by exclusively constitutional means. They amassed a huge amount of money, but we have never been told where it went and whether any or how much was diverted into the political project being run by the non-violent arm of the republican movement, Sinn Féin. To attempt to associate Pearse and Connolly with the morality and totalitarian instinct of the Provos would be a sick joke if it weren't so serious. The reality Of course the real comparison is the one that dare not speak its name today. For 30 years, the Provo leaders told recruits they were fighting for a united Ireland and the killing wouldn't stop until it was achieved. Is that any different to what the dissident gang leaders today tell disaffected teenagers in disadvantaged enclaves of Belfast and Derry? The reality of the Provisional IRA's activity was in stark contrast to the 'armed struggle' portrayed by Mr Adams. That would indeed suggest he wasn't a member because he obviously didn't know what they engaged in. He had his day in court and he expressed himself pleased with the outcome. The jury determined that he did not deserve the reputation of one who would be involved in murdering an informer in 2006, eight years after the Good Friday Agreement. He is entitled to bask in that legal victory. The trial was, in many ways, a blast from the past. The rewriting of that past continues apace, but it was interesting to have a rare forum in which the retro republican chic being purveyed was stripped of its spin. Read More Martin criticises 'over-reaction' as Cathal Crowe apologises for remarks about British Army
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
The Mick Clifford Podcast: The Northern Bank robbery — The heist and how they got away with it
The robbery of the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 was both a criminal act and, most observers believe, a political act as it was carried out by the Provisional IRA at a time when Sinn Féin was negotiating on the basis that violent and criminal acts by the Provos were at an end. Acclaimed writer Glenn Patterson was in the city centre on the night it happened. His latest book The Northern Bank Job: The Heist and How They Got Away with It is both a cracking read and a historical document of note. Glenn is this week's guest on the podcast.
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Jury in Gerry Adams' defamation case against BBC to continue deliberation on Friday
The jury in Gerry Adams' defamation action against the BBC will return on Friday to continue their deliberations in the case. The former Sinn Féin leader claims a BBC Spotlight programme and a related article published in 2016 defamed him by falsely accusing him of sanctioning the killing of British agent Denis Donaldson at a cottage in Glenties, Co Donegal, in 2006. He described the allegation as a 'grievous smear'. He insists he had no involvement in Mr Donaldson's death. Dissident republicans claimed responsibility for the killing in 2009. The BBC denies it defamed Mr Adams. Mr Justice Alexander Owens previously told the jury at least nine of them must be in agreement in deciding the case. The jury began their deliberation at about 10.25am on Thursday, and concluded at roughly 5.10pm. One of the jurors, due to personal commitments, was released by the judge during the jury's deliberation. On Wednesday, Mr Justice Owens said the jury must decide whether the words complained of by Mr Adams in the programme and article say he 'gave the okay for', or sanctioned, the murder of Mr Donaldson. The BBC claims the words did not defame Mr Adams. It is the broadcaster's defence that the statements were couched as allegations. The judge said the jury should decide this question based on how a 'reasonable viewer' would interpret the words. If the jury finds the words mean Mr Adams sanctioned the murder, they must then consider the BBC's defence of fair and reasonable publication. The onus of proof in this defence is on the BBC, the judge said. Finally, if it rejects this defence, the jury must consider the amount of damages to award Mr Adams as compensation for damage done to his reputation. Mr Adams' lawyers have argued he has the reputation of a 'peacemaker' and of helping to end violence in Northern Ireland. The BBC has argued Mr Adams's case was a 'cynical attempt' to 'launder' a reputation for being in the Provisional IRA and sitting on its decision-making body, known as the army council. The judge noted a person's reputation can change over time. He said the jury should evaluate Mr Adams's reputation from 2016 — the time of the broadcast — to now, if it awards damages. He previously told the jury members they should only consider Mr Adams's reputation in the Republic of Ireland. He said the jury were not being asked what they think about Mr Adams or whether they approve of him. 'You decide what the evidence is in relation to his reputation,' the judge said. Read More Gerry Adams defamation case: Jury to begin deliberations on Thursday
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Gerry Adams defamation case: Jury to begin deliberations on Thursday
The jury in Gerry Adams' defamation action against the BBC is expected to begin its deliberations on Thursday morning. Mr Justice Alexander Owens finished his charge to the seven men and five women of the jury on Wednesday evening. He previously told the jury that at least nine of them must be in agreement in coming to a decision in the case. The former Sinn Féin leader claims a BBC Spotlight programme and a related article published in 2016 defamed him by falsely accusing him of sanctioning the killing of British agent Denis Donaldson at a cottage in Glenties,Co Donegal, in 2006. He described the allegation as a 'grievous smear'. The BBC denies it defamed Mr Adams, who insists he had no involvement in Mr Donaldson's death. Dissident republicans claimed responsibility for the killing in 2009. On Wednesday, Mr Justice Owens completed summarising the evidence of the witnesses called during civil trial, which is now in its fifth week. The judge repeated his instructions to the jury for what they must do when deciding on a verdict. He said they must decide if the words complained of by Mr Adams in the programme and article say that he 'gave the OK for', or sanctioned, the murder of Mr Donaldson. The BBC says the words did not defame Mr Adams. It is the broadcaster's case that the statements were couched as allegations. The judge said they should decide this question based on how a 'reasonable viewer' would interpret the words. If they find that the words mean Mr Adams sanctioned the murder, they must then consider the BBC's defence of fair and reasonable publication. The onus of proof in this defence is on the BBC, the judge said. Finally, if they reject this defence, the jury must consider the amount of damages to award Mr Adams, to compensate him for damage done to his reputation. Mr Adams' lawyers have argued that he has the reputation of a 'peacemaker', and helping to end violence in Northern Ireland. The BBC has argued that Mr Adams' case is a 'cynical attempt' to 'launder' a reputation for being in the Provisional IRA, and sitting on its army council. The judge noted that a person's reputation can change over time. He said the jury should evaluate Mr Adams' reputation from 2016 – the time of the broadcast – to now, if they award damages. He previously told the jury that they should only consider Mr Adams' reputation in the Republic of Ireland. 'You decide what the evidence is in relation to his reputation,' the judge told the jury. Read More Jury in Gerry Adams libel case expected to begin deliberations next week
