A barrister has suggested in the High Court that the reason Gerry Adams never previously took legal action over allegations he was in the IRA and sat on its army council is because the claims are true.
Mr Justice Alexander Owens intervened before Mr Adams responded to the allegation, made by Paul Gallagher SC on the second week of a civil trial hearing into the former Sinn Féin leader’s defamation action against the BBC.
Mr Adams claims a BBC Spotlight programme and related article published in 2016 defamed him by falsely accusing him of sanctioning the 2006 killing of British agent Denis Donaldson. The BBC denies it defamed Mr Adams.
Mr Adams told the court on Wednesday he did not sue over repeated allegations that he was in the IRA and sat on its army council because he was advised by his solicitors that he would not get a fair hearing.
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On Thursday, Mr Gallagher, for the BBC, suggested this was not a reason he did not sue over the allegation – rather, he alleged, it was because he was a member or the IRA and sat on the army council, and remained so until 2005. Mr Justice Owens interjected and blocked the question before Mr Adams responded.
Following a short break, Mr Gallagher put it to Mr Adams that he was the author of an article, published under the name “Brownie” in the 1970s, that stated: “Rightly or wrongly, I am an IRA volunteer.”
“I suggest those are your words,” Mr Gallagher said.
Mr Adams said that he had not written the article, that it was written by Richard McAuley, who was part of a “collective” of men imprisoned in Long Kesh who wrote articles.
Mr Gallagher said that it could not have been Mr McAuley because he was not married and did not have a son at that time – the article’s author, Mr Gallagher pointed out, references having a spouse and son. Mr Gallagher put it to Mr Adams that he was addressing his wife and son in the article.
Mr Gallagher also put it to Mr Adams that at the time the subject material of Spotlight programme took place, there were continuing issues around IRA activity.
Counsel cited reports the IRA was behind the robbery of Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast in December 2004; the killing of Robert McCartney by an IRA man in Belfast in January 2005; and an IRA statement offering to “shoot” the perpetrators of Mr McCartney’s murder.
Mr Adams said that the killing of Mr McCartney was brutal and wrong, and said he was not aware of an IRA statement threatening to shoot those involved in the murder.
When Mr Gallagher quoted from what he said was the statement released by the IRA, Mr Adams said: “Well, I don’t accept that as a statement made by the IRA.”
Mr Gallagher said that the statement was “another reminder, to use [Mr Adams’] words, that the IRA had not gone away”.
At a rally at Belfast City Hall in 1995, in response to a heckler, Mr Adams said, “They [the IRA] haven’t gone away, you know.”
Mr Gallagher suggested that it is “of considerable significance” that the “reputation” Mr Adams had as being involved in the IRA and its army council is an important part of the context of the Spotlight programme.
Mr Adams repeated his assertion that counsel was seeking to persuade the jury that he did not have a reputation, and therefore, the Spotlight programme can say what they want about him and he could have no redress.
Mr Gallagher also put it to Mr Adams that the BBC updated its website with other articles relating to Mr Donaldson’s killing. These articles included one reporting Mr Donaldson’s family statement that did not blame the IRA for his murder and another reporting that a man had been released without charge by gardaí investigating the killing.
Mr Gallagher said that the BBC “followed true”, and when information that implicated others in the murder of Mr Donaldson became available, viewers of the BBC website were updated on that information.
Mr Adams pointed out that the article he sued over, with the headline “Gerry Adams ‘sanctioned Denis Donaldson killing‘”, is still live on the BBC website.
He added: “The horse had bolted ... the programme had been broadcast.”
Ciarán Shiels, a solicitor who previously represented the Donaldson family, told the court Mr Adams’ name was never mentioned in meetings and correspondence he had with the BBC before the broadcast of the Spotlight programme.
Mr Shiels said he first met Spotlight journalist Jennifer O’Leary in April 2016. She explained she was considering making a documentary related to Mr Donaldson, and outlined topics she was interested in covering in the programme. This was followed by another meeting and written correspondence with the BBC.
Mr Shiels said that the Donaldson family did not want to appear in the documentary and were anxious to keep their privacy.
Responding to questions about the documentary, Mr Shiels told the court that Mr Donaldson’s family did not accept or believe that Mr Adams had anything to do with his murder.
“Mr Adams was seen as a family friend. He was trusted by the family ... the family would have felt that he had integrity,” he said.
Asked Tom Hogan SC, for Mr Adams, what he would have said to Ms O’Leary had he been asked about the allegations made about Mr Adams in the programme, he 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 Shiels agreed that in an interview with the BBC after the Spotlight broadcast, he said that the allegation Mr Adams sanctioned the IRA’s killing of Mr Donaldson did not “marry” with lines of inquiry progressed by gardaí investigating the murder.
In cross-examination, Eoin McCullough SC, for the BBC, pointed out that the Spotlight programme reported on the Garda’s investigation.
The trial continues.
