BBC ‘no intention’ of blocking output in Ireland, says NI director

BBC Northern Ireland has “no intention” of blocking its news or other output in the Republic of Ireland, its director Adam Smyth has said in an email sent to staff.

There has been speculation it was considering the move following Gerry Adams’ libel case victory.

The former Sinn Féin leader sued the BBC in Dublin, as the BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme on Denis Donaldson’s murder was able to be seen across the border.

An accompanying online story, also found to be defamatory, could also be accessed in the jurisdiction.

In an email to staff, BBC NI director Mr Smyth wrote: “We will, of course, be making a considered response to the outcome of the case, including what it means in practical terms.

“That is what everyone would expect of the BBC.

“We remain mindful of the legal considerations that apply across the island, but have no intention of limiting our journalism and programmes, or their general availability, as a result of Friday’s verdict.”

He went on: “I stand by everything I said outside Court 24 last Friday.

“However, the last few days haven’t been easy and some of what’s been said about the BBC and its integrity has been very wide of the mark.”

He added the BBC “exists for the whole community”.

It comes after SDLP MP Colum Eastwood urged Mr Smyth to clarify whether or not the BBC was considering geoblocking its programming in the wake of the libel case.

Mr Donaldson was once a key figure in Sinn Féin’s rise as a political force in Northern Ireland.

But he was found murdered in 2006 after it emerged he had worked for the police and MI5 inside Sinn Féin for 20 years.

In 2009, the Real IRA said it had murdered him.

Based on sources, Spotlight claimed the killing was the work of the Provisional IRA.

Mr Donaldson was interned without trial for periods in the 1970s and, after signing the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Féin appointed him as its key administrator in the party’s Stormont offices.

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

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

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

He served as MP in his native Belfast West from 1983 to 1992 and again 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.