Gerry Adams libel case against BBC gets under way

6 hours ago 14

Julian O'Neill

BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent

Getty Images Gerry Adams looks into the camera. He is wearing round glasses, a navy jacket, white shirt and black and gold patterned tie. He has white hair and a white beard. Getty Images

Gerry Adams alleges the BBC defamed him by falsely claiming he sanctioned the killing of Denis Donaldson

A libel case brought by Gerry Adams against the BBC is scheduled to begin at the High Court in Dublin on Tuesday.

The former Sinn Féin president believes he was defamed in a 2016 programme which, he claims, was wrong to allege he sanctioned the murder of an informer, Denis Donaldson.

Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Donegal in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent for 20 years.

Mr Adams, 76, denies any involvement.

PA Media Martin McGuinness, Denis Donaldson and Gerry Adams are all looking to their right. All three are wearing glasses. Mr McGuinness and Mr Adams are both wearing dark suits, shirts and ties. Mr Donaldson is wearing a tanned coloured jacket and a denim shirt. There are three microphones in front of them. PA Media

Denis Donaldson was a key figure in Sinn Féin and worked closely with former leaders Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams

In 2009, the Real IRA admitted killing Mr Donaldson, who had worked for Sinn Féin.

Mr Adams also alleges he was defamed in a BBC online article based on the broadcast, a BBC NI Spotlight TV documentary, which contained claims made by an anonymous source.

He is seeking damages, alleging his reputation was damaged.

The case is expected to last a number of weeks and will be heard before a jury.

During pre-trial hearings, the BBC argued the broadcast and publication were put out in good faith and concerned a matter of public interest.

It stated the reports constituted responsible journalism as a result of careful investigation.

Speaking outside court on Tuesday morning, Mr Adams said he had sought a retraction of the claims in the online article but the BBC had refused.

"Not only did they not correct it but, to this day, it is still on their website so here we are nine years later," he said.

"I'm looking to see the record corrected."

He added that if he was offered compensation he would donate it to "good causes".

Who is Gerry Adams?

Mr Adams was the former president of republican party Sinn Féin from 1983 until 2018.

He served as MP in his native west Belfast from 1997 until 2011 before sitting as a TD (Teachta Dála) in the Dáil (Irish parliament) between 2011 and 2020.

Mr Adams led the Sinn Féin delegation during peace talks that eventually brought an end to the Troubles after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

He was detained in the early 1970s when the government in Northern Ireland introduced internment without trial for those suspected of paramilitary involvement.

Mr Adams has consistently denied being a member of the IRA.

Who was Denis Donaldson?

Getty Images An aerial view of a white cottage with a slated roof. There is an old stone outbuilding to its rear with a heavily rusted tin roof. The cottage is beside a tall tree and the front is surrounded by a stone wall. There are a number of black plastic sheets around the property. Getty Images

Denis Donaldson was found dead in a run-down cottage in County Donegal

Mr Donaldson was once a key figure in Sinn Féin's rise as a political force in Northern Ireland but he was found brutally murdered in 2006 after it emerged he had been a spy.

He was interned without trial for periods in the 1970s.

After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Féin appointed Mr Donaldson as their key administrator in the party's Stormont offices.

In 2005 Mr Donaldson confessed that he was a spy for British intelligence for two decades, before disappearing from Belfast.

He was found dead in a small, run down cottage in Glenties, County Donegal.

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