Gerry Adams accuses BBC of claiming he has ‘no reputation’ to libel

Gerry Adams has complained that the BBC is trying to influence a libel jury in Dublin that he has “no popularity in any way”, as a part of its defence in opposition to his declare for damages.

Mr Adams is giving extra proof in his case in opposition to the company.

He believes he was defamed in a Highlight programme and accompanying on-line article, which, he claims, have been incorrect to state he sanctioned the homicide of Denis Donaldson in 2006. He denies any involvement.

Mr Adams was repeatedly requested about his alleged membership of the IRA’s military council – a declare he repeatedly denied – by a barrister for the BBC.

Paul Gallagher SC was cross-examining Mr Adams on Wednesday and referred to a number of books and newspaper tales about Mr Adams.

Mr Adams requested him: “Why are you making an attempt to influence the jury I’ve no popularity in any way?”

He then claimed Mr Gallagher was trying to “smother” the 12-person jury in “obscure quotes” from three or 4 many years in the past.

Addressing the allegation about being on the military council, he stated he was “irritated” by it, including: “It isn’t true”.

“Just like the allegation within the Highlight programme, that is a lie.”

He stated he had by no means sued over the allegation as his solicitors had suggested him he would by no means get a good listening to.

At one stage of proceedings, Mr Adams’ barrister, Declan Doyle SC, objected to Mr Gallagher’s line of questioning, stating the tales he referred to “aren’t proof of something”.

The decide, Mr Justice Alexander Owens, then interjected.

“All this blather about Mr Adams being a member of the military council will not be one thing it’s a must to resolve,” he advised the jury.

He stated, nevertheless, the defendants, the BBC, are entitled to ask Mr Adams about points associated to his public popularity and statements he had made prior to now.

Mr Adams was additionally requested about Say Nothing, the Disney drama sequence concerning the IRA, primarily based on the ebook of the identical title by Patrick Radden Keefe.

It depicts Mr Adams as an IRA chief.

He stated he had not seen it, including: “Life’s too brief to observe Disney, particularly when it’s coping with severe points.”

Mr Adams additionally stated he had not learn the ebook, had declined to co-operate with its author and that it was primarily based on the “discredited” Boston Tapes.

He accepted what has been stated about him by the media for years, however said: “I do not for a second acknowledge the accuracy of the allegations.

“I deny them.”

Referring to Mr Gallagher’s questioning, he stated: “It is extra of the identical of the identical of the identical.

“Not a phrase about Highlight. How lengthy have we been speaking?”

Within the case of the motion in opposition to the BBC, Mr Adams stated it confirmed how severely he took the allegation contained within the Highlight programme.

He stated he had sued in opposition to what he considers to be a difficulty that “units apart the massive work that was completed” by him and others on the peace course of.

He stated the import of the programme was that his work to finish the marketing campaign of violence “was a rip-off” and that the IRA military council had authorised the killing of Mr Donaldson and requested Mr Adams for permission.

He claimed this to be a “lie” and “grievous smear” which undermined what the peace course of had achieved.

“The struggle is finished. We’re all in a greater place,” Mr Adams said.

Mr Adams and the BBC’s lawyer engaged in exchanges over whether or not the battle might have been delivered to an finish sooner than it was.

Mr Adams was questioned concerning the Sunningdale Settlement in 1973, the New Eire Discussion board in 1984, and the Anglo-Irish Settlement in 1985.

He rejected options that any of those occasions might have shaped the idea for peace.

Mr Gallagher recommended that if the IRA had given up violence sooner, “it could have been a lot simpler to discover a answer and get folks to speak collectively to resolve no matter different points have been there”.

Mr Adams stated he did not “minimise the position of the IRA”, however that “a number of forces” had been concerned within the battle.

At one other level, the barrister requested Mr Adams if the IRA’s view was “they may power folks right into a united Eire”.

Mr Adams replied that he couldn’t communicate for the IRA, however added: “I’ve by no means thought you might power folks right into a united Eire.”

Simply earlier than proceedings ended for the day, Mr Adams was requested about his dealings with Highlight previous to its broadcast and why he declined a possibility to be interviewed concerning the allegations regarding Mr Donaldson.

Describing the programme as “a straight ambush”, he stated he was “entitled” to not take part.

“I am inside my proper to resolve to not co-operate.

“Seeing the way in which the programme developed I believe I used to be justified,” Mr Adams advised the court docket.

He stated that Highlight finally acquired a letter from his solicitors denying the allegations earlier than the programme was aired in late 2016.

The case continues on Thursday.

Mr Donaldson was as soon as a key determine in Sinn Féin’s rise as a political power in Northern Eire however he was discovered murdered in 2006 after it emerged he had been a spy.

He was interned with out trial for durations within the Seventies.

After the signing of the Good Friday Settlement, Sinn Féin appointed Mr Donaldson as its key administrator within the social gathering’s Stormont workplaces.

In 2005 Mr Donaldson confessed he was a spy for British intelligence for 20 years, earlier than disappearing from Belfast.

He was discovered useless in a small, run down cottage in Glenties, County Donegal.

Mr Adams was the president of republican social gathering Sinn Féin from 1983 till 2018.

He served as MP in his native Belfast West from 1983 to 1992 and once more from 1997 till 2011 earlier than sitting as a TD (Teachta Dála) within the Dáil (Irish parliament) between 2011 and 2020.

Mr Adams led the Sinn Féin delegation throughout peace talks that finally introduced an finish to the Troubles after the signing of the Good Friday Settlement in 1998.

He was detained within the early Seventies when the federal government in Northern Eire launched internment with out trial for these suspected of paramilitary involvement.

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