Gerry Adams and BBC barrister in sharp exchanges in libel case

There were some sharp exchanges between Gerry Adams and a barrister acting for the BBC on the fourth day of the former Sinn Féin leader’s libel action against the broadcaster.

Mr Adams, 76, was called back to the witness seat at the High Court in Dublin on Friday afternoon, marking the start of his cross-examination.

He is seeking damages from the BBC over a 2016 Spotlight programme which, he claims, defamed him by stating that he sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson.

Mr Adams denies any involvement.

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

Barrister Paul Gallagher SC, acting for the BBC, began by citing the number of people killed during the Troubles – around 3,500.

He asked Mr Adams what proportion were murdered by the Provisional IRA.

Mr Adams replied: “I don’t have the exact figure…what’s this got to do with the Spotlight programme?”

He was asked if he could recall the number of fatalities in several IRA attacks, listed one by one, from the early 1970s, including Bloody Friday and the bombing at Claudy.

Mr Adams said he could not and at one point asked: “We shouldn’t make this a test of my memory.”

Mr Gallagher then raised the murders of 10 protestants at Kingsmills in 1976, an attack widely believed to have been carried out by the IRA.

Mr Adams said he had condemned the incident at the time and added: “I have never heard a claim of that incident by the IRA.

“I feared that republicans may have been involved and that’s why I pointed out it was wrong.

“I also pointed out the danger of engaging in sectarian actions. It was a dreadful incident and I said so at the time.”

Turning to the broader context of the Troubles, Mr Adams went on: “The IRA was entitled to use armed actions.

“When you live under occupation there are, in certain circumstances, a legitimacy of armed actions.

“I wouldn’t agree with everything the IRA did – I didn’t want to see anyone killed.”

Later, when asked about the murder of a prison officer, Mr Adams responded: “I cannot be expected to remember every death.”

He accused Mr Gallagher of “rhyming off” individual incidents, adding: “What has this got to do with Denis Donaldson?”

Mr Gallagher said it was for Mr Adams’ barrister to object, adding: “Your function here is to answer questions.”

To which Mr Adams said: “But you persist in asking me to remember atrocities.”

The cross-examination lasted about 90 minutes and is due to resume on Tuesday morning.

On Thursday, the court heard Mr Adams was insulted by the BBC’s response to his complaint.

His lawyers read out correspondence between his solicitors and the BBC after its story in 2016.

Mr Adams’ solicitors wrote seeking an apology and compensation, but the BBC’s lawyers rejected the remedies sought by Mr Adams.

The corporation said it was satisfied the programme was the product of responsible journalism which followed its editorial guidelines.

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.

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 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 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, run down cottage in Glenties, County Donegal.