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Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Family of Denis Donaldson say Gerry Adams 'retraumatised' them with libel action
The family of murdered informant Denis Donaldson have called for a public inquiry into his death, as they accused Gerry Adams of 'retraumatising' them with his libel action against the BBC. The former Sinn Féin president yesterday said he has 'put manners' on the BBC, after winning €100,000 in damages over an allegation that he sanctioned the murder of the British spy. Mr Adams had sued the BBC in the High Court in Dublin, claiming it wrongly alleged that he had the 'final say' in the death of Sinn Féin official and informant Denis Donaldson. Gerry Adams. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Donegal in April 2006, four months after confessing that he had been an agent for the British security forces for 20 years. The murder remains unsolved. Mr Adams, who has been both a TD and an MP, said the 2016 Spotlight documentary, Spy In The IRA, had damaged his reputation as a peacemaker. He said the programme was a 'grievous smear' and a 'hatchet job' – and the jury agreed. Gerry Adams. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Following the verdict, Mr Donaldson's daughter Jane called for an urgent public inquiry into her father's violent death. Speaking on behalf of her immediate family, she said: 'By reducing events which damaged our lives to a debate about damage to his reputation, the plaintiff has trivialised our family tragedy. 'Daddy's murder and surrounding circumstances devastated our family. The plaintiff prioritised his own financial and reputational interests over any regard for retraumatising my family.' She continued: 'We are still no closer to the truth. No one spoke for my family in court. We supported neither side in this case.' Gerry Adams. Pic: Collins Courts She said her family had been 'stonewalled' in their pursuit of the truth, while 'limitless' legal resources and vast expense were invested in the High Court case. She noted that an inquest into Mr Donaldson's death had been postponed 27 times, and said the family had been refused a judgeled commission of investigation. She said the public interest could Plaintiff: only be Gerry served by Adams some form of public inquiry, with a crossborder dimension, 'empowered to investigate the whole truth about the conspiracy to expose and murder my daddy'. Adam Smyth, director of the BBC in the North, said the broadcast and online article 'were of the highest public interest'. 'We didn't want to come to court, but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision,' he said after the verdict yesterday. Mr Smyth added that the implications of this case will be 'profound'. 'If the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it's hard to see how anyone's could,' he explained. The head of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ireland, Séamus Dooley, said the case 'underlined' the need for reform of the defamation legislation. 'As an official representing BBC journalists I was disappointed at the comments made by Mr Adams regarding the organisation' he said, referring to his claim to have 'put manners' on the broadcaster. 'Spotlight has a proud history of investigative journalism and the outcome of this case does not take from that history.' He said the scale of damages gave rise to serious concern for media organisations. 'The NUJ has long sought reform of defamation law and Twitter,' he said. The BBC had argued that the documentary, and a follow-up online article, were fair and reasonable publications on a matter of public interest. Facing potential legal costs of over €1.5million for the four-week case, it said yesterday that the implications of the verdict for investigative journalism in the future 'will be profound'. Mr Adams's reputation was at the core of the case, with the BBC maintaining that the public believed him to have been a senior member of the IRA for many years. The broadcaster's barrister, Eoin McCullough, had said: 'If a person has the reputation of having been in the IRA or on the army council, or having presided over a campaign in which many people were killed, they should not be awarded damages on account of the allegation that the final order for one more murder lay with him.' However, the jury found that the words used in the documentary, and a follow-up online news article, were defamatory, and awarded €100,000 to restore Mr Adams's reputation. Speaking outside court, Mr Adams – who has said the money will be given to charity – told the waiting media that he had flaws in his character, but that he had 'always been satisfied with my reputation'. He continued: 'From my perspective, taking this case was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation. I know many, many journalists. I like to think that I get on well with most of them… 'But the British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland and in my view, it's out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement.' Mr Adams said he was mindful that Mr Donaldson's family had to 'watch all of this'. He called on Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan to meet with the Donaldson family 'as quickly as possible'. Mr Adams's legal team had said the programme was reckless journalism, based on an unverified allegation from a single anonymous source. The BBC had countered that the claim was presented as an allegation and not a fact, and that it was corroborated by five other sources including the security services.
Extra.ie
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Gerry Adams case against BBC branded 'a cynical attempt to launder his reputation'
Gerry Adams sued the BBC in a 'cynical attempt… to launder his reputation', the High Court has been told. The jury heard closing speeches in Mr Adams's defamation case against the BBC, which he says wrongly alleged that he sanctioned the killing by the IRA of Sinn Féin official and informant Denis Donaldson. Mr Adams claims the 2016 Spotlight documentary Spy In The IRA damaged his reputation as a peacemaker. Gerry Adams. Pic: Collins Courts Paul Gallagher, the BBC's barrister, said the case was important as it involved 'the right to free speech, the right to ask questions, the right to give information to the public'. He said: 'This case is very much about Gerry Adams's reputation. Not just is he entitled to damages… but also whether this was a reasonable and fair publication. 'We say this is, in truth, a cynical attempt by Mr Adams to launder his reputation, to say that his reputation is something different than what he in effect acknowledged under questioning – that people out there repeatedly said, that he was a member of the IRA, of the army council. That is his reputation.' Paul Gallagher. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire He continued: 'The IRA was a terrorist organisation which held this country, and the North, hostage for three decades. 'To have a reputation of being a member of that organisation and being on the army council is something that is very significant and goes to the heart of the case.' Mr Gallagher said it was important that the atrocities that the IRA had committed were borne in mind by the jury. 'Are we to say nothing about that? Mr Adams would like us to say nothing,' he said. 'To put himself forward as the peacemaker, with no hint in his evidence in chief of this dimension of his reputation.' He said the producers of the programme had the courage to believe they had learned something which should be shared with the public, regardless of the consequences to them. Gerry Adams. Pic: Collins Courts The programme had covered the alleged sanctioning of the killing of an informer, he said. He noted a 'universality' of newspaper reports from the 1970s on, stating Mr Adams was reputed to be a member of the IRA, and Mr Adams's consistent refusal to condemn the actions of the IRA. He cited Mr Adams's comment at a press conference in 1978 that 'everybody in West Belfast knows the consequence of informing is death'. Mr Gallagher also noted evidence of Mr Adams carrying the coffins of bombers. Mr Gallagher said the media had an essential role to play in allowing the country to face up to the past, adjust to it, and ensure such things did not happen again. This was why the media had a defence to defamation claims, to allow for a fair and reasonable report to be made on a matter of public interest, he contended. Mr Gallagher said Mr Adams's case wrongly claimed the allegation was based on just one anonymous source – when it fact it was corroborated by six other people. Responding, Declan Doyle, barrister for Mr Adams, said the damages which the jury should award should be 'very substantial indeed'. Declan Doyle. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire He said: 'This is widespread circulation by a national broadcaster of an allegation of coldblooded, cynical murder.' He said the right to free speech must be balanced against a person's right to their good name. The BBC, he said, had 'nailed their colours to the mast' in saying that Mr Adams had no reputation to damage. However, he accused them of 'cheek beyond belief' in accusing Mr Adams of ignoring a significant part of his own reputation. 'It is they who have deliberately and cynically chosen to ignore Mr Adams's reputation for peace and reconciliation,' he said. Mr Doyle accused the BBC of taking a 'reductive, narrow and prejudiced' view of Mr Adams, a repeatedly elected politician. He also said the BBC had failed to verify the allegation through An Garda Síochána – instead relying on 'shadowy sources'. Judge Alexander Owens has now begun his charge to the jury, which continues today.
