Paras acquitted of murder to challenge fresh inquest plan - Adams case updates
Alan Erwin, Irish News, May 30th, 2025
TWO former paratroopers acquitted of murdering an Official IRA commander 53 years ago have secured legal permission to challenge the decision to order a fresh inquest into his killing.
They were granted leave at the High Court yesterday to seek a judicial review into claims that the north’s attorney general wrongly directed a new tribunal into the death of Joe McCann just before Troubles-era cases were ended.
But a judge put the challenge on hold amid ongoing uncertainty over UK government plans to introduce legislation to restore inquests halted by the controversial legacy act.
Mr McCann (24) was shot dead in disputed circumstances after a British army patrol opened fire near his home in the Markets area of Belfast in April 1972.
Two members of the Parachute Regiment, referred to as Soldiers A and C, were later accused of his murder.
In 2021 they were formally acquitted after the trial collapsed because key evidence based on statements given to Royal Military Police in 1972 and to Historical Enquiries Team (HET) investigators in 2010 were ruled inadmissible.
Following that outcome, members of Mr McCann’s family pressed for the establishment of another inquest.
In April last year Attorney General Brenda King announced that she had directed a fresh hearing, saying it would not be inhibited from considering the soldiers’ written statements and would be able to provide a public record of what occurred.
The move was made just 12 days before the legacy act introduced by the previous Conservative government brought an end to Troubles-era inquests.
Lawyers representing Soldiers A and C brought judicial review proceedings in a bid to have the decision quashed, arguing it was both unlawful and irrational.
They claimed the attorney general was seeking to compel another public authority, the Coroners Service, to take a step which could never be legally fulfilled.
A total of eight shots were fired by members of the army unit during the incident in which Mr McCann was killed.
Impossible to establish who fired fatal shot
With six of the rounds discharged by a paratrooper who has since died, the court was told another inquest will never be able to establish who fired the fatal bullet.
Soldier A has stated he now suffers from brain damage and significant memory loss which has left him with no recollection of the previous investigations.
His former colleague, Soldier C, provided an affidavit that the decision to order a fresh inquest has brought back the anxiety and sleeplessness he endured during the criminal proceedings.
Their barrister insisted all of the remaining statutory questions to be addressed by an inquest have already been answered.
Counsel for the attorney general responded that the challenge should be dismissed due to the current legislative circumstances making it impossible for an inquest to be convened.
He also confirmed there is no timetable for primary legislation required to change the current position.
Mr Justice Humphreys held that Soldiers A and C have established an arguable case on grounds of challenge centred on alleged errors of fact about their 1972 statements and the impact of the legacy act on the decision-making process.
“Legislative change may occur, but it remains a matter for parliament to determine whether, and to what extent, inquests caught by the legacy act may resume,” he said.
The judge ruled: “I propose, therefore, to grant leave on those grounds… but [direct] that no further steps be taken in this litigation until further order.”
NI legal aid bill jumps almost 50% in five years to £120m
Garrett Hargan, Belfast Telegraph, May 30th, 2025
The Department of Justice has revealed that almost £120m was spent on legal aid in 2024/25 — a leap of nearly 50% since 2019/20.
A total of £119,990,900 was authorised from the legal aid fund in 2024/25, the department said.
In 2019/20 the department spent £81.2m, amounting to a 48% increase over that period.
In November 2024, criminal barristers in Northern Ireland began withdrawing services in certain categories of criminal cases, such as refusing instructions in murder and manslaughter cases.
Then earlier this year barristers took industrial action, withdrawing from legally-aided Crown Court cases in a dispute over legal aid.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said the action was a “necessary response” to barristers doing more for “significantly less”.
The CBA previously stated that legal aid rates for lawyers, when adjusted for inflation, have plummeted between 47% and 58% since 2005.
Highest expenditure on record
This year's figure does however represent the highest annual total on record, and a 5.2% increase on the previous year when expenditure totalled £114,007,192.
While spending is up, the number of applications granted in 2024/25 shows a 3.6% reduction on 2023/24 (63,881).
In 2024/25, 61,573 cases were granted legal aid. Of these, over two-thirds (41,570) were criminal cases with 32.5% (20,003) representing civil cases.
However, in terms of authorised expenditure, that was split fairly evenly between criminal (50.8%) and civil (49.2%) cases.
While criminal expenditure increased by 15.1% between 2023/24 and 2024/25, civil expenditure fell by 3.3%. In 2024/25 just under £68m (56.6%) of legal aid expenditure was authorised to solicitor firms, with just over £51.5m (42.9%) authorised to barristers.
Courts have the power to grant legal aid, and it is only available to a person charged with a criminal offence.
Legal aid cannot be applied for by someone bringing a private prosecution, and the decision by the court on whether to grant it is based on a person's financial circumstances.
A total of £113.5m was spent in 2023/24, £101.3m in 2022/23, £94.7m in 2021/22 and £75.2m in 2020/21.
In Scotland, the total cost of legal assistance between April 2023 and March 2024 was £151m.
According to the Statistica website, in 2023/24 the criminal legal aid budget in England and Wales was £1.07bn, compared with £928m in the previous year.
In the provided time period, criminal legal aid peaked in 2005/06 at almost £1.87bn pounds, but between then and the most recent financial year it has fallen significantly in real terms.
OVERCROWDED JAILS, BACKLOGGED COURTS, FAILED VICTIMS... WE NEED REFORM NOW
Allison Morrison, Belfast Telegraph, May 30th, 2025
This would be money well spent if we had justice system fit for purpose, but we don't.
Access to justice is an important cornerstone of any democratic society.
If an adequate defence was only available to those with the financial means, we would be left with a system in which many would be at risk of miscarriages of justice.
You need only look to the United States for a system that allows the wealthy to escape justice and fills prisons with the poorest members of society.
However, justice comes at a price.
According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the legal aid bill here came to just under £120m for 2024/25 — the highest figure ever recorded and up 5.2% on the previous year.
The volume of cases granted legal aid was down 3.6%. And while the number of criminal cases fell by 6.1%, the number of civil cases increased by 1.9%.
Exceptional cost of Legacy cases
This was due to exceptional spending over the past year as a result of an increased number of bills for legacy cases being authorised.
The controversial Legacy Act placed a deadline on civil cases and led to a rush of victims lodging cases in order to meet the tight timeframe in place as a result of the legislation.
The largest single category of criminal legal aid was for cases in Magistrates Courts, equating to 85% of all criminal court spending.
That £120m figure sounds high, but would be a worthy spend if it was funding a justice system working efficiently and with the rights of the victim at its core.
But that is not the case, as Northern Ireland is currently experiencing a justice crisis.
The backlog in the courts is causing a ripple effect that is impacting public confidence in a system that is badly in need of reform. Prisons are overcrowded as a result of the backlogged courts, and around half of all prisoners locally are on remand awaiting trial.
That is people who are innocent until proven guilty facing lengthy waits behind-bars, in many cases unable to access bail for a variety of reasons.
The situation also leaves victims and witnesses in a limbo situation, attending court on multiple occasions only to be turned away as officials deal with endless delays to reaching trial.
The legal aid bill is a fairly small part of the overall justice budget.
But for it to represent value for money and increase confidence in a struggling system, justice must operate in a much more timely fashion.
After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
Just one in five PSNI recruits are Catholic, new data shows
Conor Sheils, Irish News, May 30th, 2025
JUST over one in every five police officers recruited in Northern Ireland in the past five years is from a Catholic background – with just 6.8% openly nationalist, The Irish News can reveal.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act makes clear that Catholics are still not joining the PSNI in large numbers and the service could see a decline in the number of Catholic officers when compared with the years following the Good Friday Agreement.
The PSNI recruited 1,377 officers between 2020 and the end of March 2025, of which 76.3% came from a Protestant background, while just 21.6% were from a Catholic background. According to the 2021 census, 45.7% of the north’s population were either raised Catholic or identify as such.
Around 32% of PSNI officers are Catholic. However, those figures may be reflective of the period between 2001 and 2011 when the 50:50 recruitment policy was in place. In the years that followed the percentage of Catholics grew from around 8% before the RUC was disbanded in 2001.
However, the 50:50 policy was criticised by some unionist politicians who claimed it was discriminatory against Protestants and it was eventually scrapped in 2011.
The data showed that 24.8% of officers identified as unionist, compared with just 6.8% as nationalist.
Just one out of five PSNI new recruits are Catholic
However, most (57.8%) selected ‘none’ when asked for their political views.
There has been a significant drop in the overall number of people joining the service in recent years with 405 in 2020, compared to 86 in 2023 and 234 in the last full year, 2024.
The statistics up to March this year show that 93 have joined.
Insufficient funding
Liam Kelly, chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said the low recruitment numbers come down to insufficient funding from Stormont.
“The recruitment ‘tap’ depends entirely on a sufficient budget.
“Right now, the budget is insufficient. Without intervention from executive ministers, the PSNI will run up a deficit of £21 million this year. The situation is dire,” he said.
Mr Kelly blamed the lack of recruits from a Catholic or nationalist background on threats from dissident republican groups.
“Individuals from all backgrounds are actively encouraged to apply to become officers,” he said.
“Securing sufficient numbers from Catholic and nationalist backgrounds is against a backdrop of a continuing unacceptable threat level from dissident republican groups.
“Individuals from Catholic and nationalist backgrounds are fearful that they and their families could be targeted by dissidents who want to maintain a barrier between their community and policing generally.
“There is a leadership and supportive role that must be given by politicians to people from Catholic and nationalist background who want a rewarding career in the PSNI.
“If that were to happen in a determined manner, then some of the concerns held by potential recruits from a Catholic and nationalist background would be addressed.”
TD says sorry for claiming British army ‘never shot’ Irish civilians
Paul Ainsworth, Irish News, May 30th, 2025
A TD has apologised for claiming the British army “never retaliated” by targeting civilians during the Troubles.
Cathal Crowe, a Fianna Fáil TD for Clare, said he made a “genuine slip-up” in the comments during a debate on Gaza on Wednesday.
Although his initial comment in the Dáil referred to the height of the Troubles, he preceded it by describing British army actions in Ireland “for many centuries”.
TDs were debating a motion brought by Labour on the actions of Israel in Gaza.
Mr Crowe, a former school teacher, condemned Israel while speaking in the debate but caused fury when making a comparison between Israeli forces and the British army during the Troubles.
“The British army was a bad actor on this island for many centuries but even in the worst of days, when its cities were being bombed by the terror organisations of the IRA, it never retaliated by bombing and shooting the civilian population of Ireland,” Mr Crowe said.
Sinn Féin described his comments as “appalling” and demanded an apology.
Dublin South TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh accused Mr Crowe of “erasing the countless victims of British state violence in Ireland, north and south”.
He said the Troubles were “defined by the brutal murder of civilians by the British army”.
It is estimated around 300 civilians were killed by the British army during the Troubles, and in his apology on Thursday morning, Mr Crowe referred to incidents including Bloody Sunday, in which civilians were killed by British troops.
“I apologise profusely to anyone that may have been offended by my comments,” he said, adding he had been “speaking without a scripted speech and instead, using a series of bullet points”.
“I began by stating that the Israeli eye-for-an-eye approach has been reprehensible, and that the bombing of hospitals, schools and tents, alongside the killing of babies, including many newborn babies in hospitals, amounts to genocide and ethnic cleansing,” he said.
“I then wanted to make the point that brutal, bad and all as the British armed forces have been on this island for a very long time, they never resorted to sending over the Royal Air Force tanks and missiles to pummel Irish cities.”
Parts of Dublin city centre were destroyed during artillery bombardment by British forces during the 1916 Easter Rising.
Regretted ‘clumsy’ language
Mr Crowe continued: “Regrettably, speaking largely off the cuff, I clumsily and wrongly stated, ‘They never retaliated by bombing or shooting the civilian population of Ireland’. Let me be very clear, it was not my intention to say this, and I didn’t realise how woeful all of that sounded until late last night when I received the transcript of what I had actually said.
“It was a genuine slip up on my part, but it was wrong, and I wish to unequivocally and profusely apologise.
“I know that the British armed forces have been involved in many heinous attacks on Irish people historically.
“Bloody Sunday in Croke Park in 1920, the massacre of 26 civilians at Derry’s Bogside in 1972 and the countless other actions in recent history and further back in history for which they’re responsible. I make this apology entirely of my own volition and it is genuine.”
Mr Crowe previously angered unionists when in a Dáil debate in February he said the existence of Northern Ireland was “a source of hurt for this country”.
Aontu accuses SF of 'smoke and mirrors' tricks over voting bill
Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, May 30th, 2025
BROLLY ASKS SF TO EXPLAIN WHY IT HASN'T BACKED VOTING RIGHTS FOR NI PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN ELECTIONS
Aontu is calling on Sinn Fein to explain why it hasn't signed a bill in the Dail to give Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland the right to vote in the Republic's presidential election.
The party's deputy leader, Gemma Brolly, said she was “hugely frustrated” at Sinn Fein's failure so far to respond to correspondence from Aontu leader Peadar Toibin on the issue. Sinn Fein has been contacted for comment.
Ms Brolly told the Belfast Telegraph: “We have proposed legislation to give every person on this island the right to vote in future presidential elections.
“Peadar has written to the leaders of every party in Leinster House, seeking their support and their signatures on the bill.
“We are keen for the initiative to be cross-party and to have as wide an appeal as possible. We are surprised and disappointed to have not received a response from Sinn Fein.”
Ms Brolly said this failure to engage with her party on the issue was in conflict with Sinn Fein's public position in support of extending presidential voting rights to those living across the border.
“We announced details of our bill at the Easter 1916 commemoration at Arbour Hill in Dublin,” she said. “Sinn Fein then introduced a motion in the Assembly a fortnight later, calling on the Irish government to extend presidential voting rights to citizens here. If Sinn Fein is serious about this, why hasn't it signed our bill? The party's resolution at Stormont was welcome, but it will actually change nothing. It is the Dail alone which has the power to advance this initiative.
SF already backs voting rights in Presidential elections
“We have a bill sitting there, waiting to be signed, but Sinn Fein hasn't signed it. There's a smoke and mirrors feel to all this.”
Ms Brolly called on Sinn Fein to “live up to its public comments on extending presidential voting rights” and sign her party's bill.
“It would lead to the Irish people voting as one, in the same election, for the first time since 1918. This transcends narrow political interests,” she said.
“The people of Derry and Down have as much right to exercise their democratic choice on who becomes their head of state as the people of Cork or Clare.
“It is vital that all party leaders in Leinster House support this bill and put their name to it to create the broadest possible base for progress.”
Ms Brolly added: “In particular, the largest opposition party in the Dail must commit their support so the bill can pass the legislative hurdles ahead.
“Going forward, we look forward to working with all parties that wish to see Irish citizens enfranchised.”
If passed by the Dail and endorsed by a referendum, the legislation would be too late for this October's poll to choose Michael D Higgins' successor, but the franchise would be extended to northerners for the 2032 election.
Peadar Toibin has described such a move as a “stepping stone to unity”. He said: “Irish citizens in the North can stand for election to become president, but they can't vote for the president, and that is a denial of democracy.”
No correspondence from key ministers on Casement Park says Lyons
John Manley, Irish News, May 30th, 2025
DUP minister Gordon Lyons has revealed that he has received no written correspondence from key executive ministers in relation to the redevelopment of Casement Park.
The revelation has prompted questions about how much of a priority the executive regards its ‘flagship’ project.
On Tuesday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she was “determined” to see the long-delayed redevelopment of Casement Park go ahead.
Mr Lyons’ department has said that the £62.5 million originally pledged by the Stormont executive almost a decade-and-a-half ago “remains in place”.
However, the costs of redeveloping Antrim GAA’s headquarters have soared since the plan to revamp the west Belfast stadium was first floated.
The current cost is estimated to be around £270m, with £15m so far committed by the GAA and €50m (£42m) from the Irish government.
The British government is expected to make an announcement on its contribution in the coming weeks.
Ahead of what is expected be a renewed focus on making the revised plan for a 34,000-capacity stadium a reality, SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan asked Mr Lyons what correspondence relating to the project there had been with the first and deputy first ministers, and the finance minister. In a written response, the communities minister said there was no correspondence with any of the ministers.
When contacted by The Irish News, Mr Lyons’ department said it had nothing to add to the written response.
Mr McCrossan said it was “mind-boggling” that after more than a decade of debate around the project, no minister had “put their position on Casement Park on paper”.
‘Style over substance’
“In choosing style over substance, they’ve made grand proclamations, but done nothing to actually advance the project where it counts – their silence in the rooms that matter is a dereliction of duty,” he said.
“Yes, the DUP have obstructed progress and the UK government must step up with proper funding but Sinn Féin have let them both off the hook.”
The West Tyrone representative said his party would “continue to push all parties to make good on their commitments”.
“Words alone won’t build Casement Park, and we are urging the executive to ensure that they are ready to progress this before planning is timed out and we find ourselves even further away from realising what should be a simple thing for our executive to deliver.”
But a Sinn Féin spokesperson described Mr McCrossan’s claim as “lazy and inaccurate”.
“Just last week, Michelle O’Neill reminded Keir Starmer of the importance of completing Casement Park and the need for the British government to honour the commitments made to the stadium’s redevelopment.
“The British Government must clarify what funding it will provide to enable this game-changing project.”
A party spokesperson said the communities minister needed to work alongside executive ministers “to champion this new stadium and the incredible benefits it will bring”.
Are there any reasons to be optimistic about Stormont?
Alex Kane, Irish News, May 30th, 2025
IN May 1998, the Northern Ireland (Elections) Act, to make provision for the establishment of the NI Assembly and the election of members, passed through parliament.
Regular readers will know that I rarely get excited about local politics, but this excited me.
I belong to that generation which remembered the downfall of the Northern Ireland parliament in March 1972 (I was in the grounds of Stormont when Brian Faulkner brought his cabinet and other senior figures within unionism onto the balcony for the last time).
I remember the UWC strike in May 1974 and Faulkner being driven from office by most of those senior figures.
I remember the protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement. I remember the serial collapse of processes and negotiations aimed at replacing direct rule.
And it’s because I remembered all of that turmoil that I was genuinely excited about the prospect of a devolved, power-sharing government: more important, a form of government which had already been endorsed at a referendum (albeit with only about 55% approval from the unionist side).
I was well aware of all the challenges that this new government would face; yet I dared to hope that the very act of sitting around an executive table together would soon convince the parties that cooperation and integrity could produce better government for Northern Ireland.
Certainly, better than a very bizarre form of direct rule – bizarre in the sense that it never was direct rule in the usual sense of the term – in which a succession of British governments did little more than keep things ticking along.
It really was true that a small army of political nobodies were appointed as junior ministers and just signed off a heap of documents when they could be bothered coming over.
Fair enough, there were a few who left their mark on the place because they seemed generally interested – Richard Needham springs to mind – but the rest were just pre-AI automatons.
Misplaced optimism
Yet it soon became clear that the optimism engendered by the GFA, the referendum and the election of the assembly in June 1998 was never going to be enough to underpin the hoped-for new way of doing political business here.
David Trimble and the UUP were in trouble from day one – the day the election results were known – and it wasn’t long before the DUP and Sinn Féin were dropping hints that the
UUP/SDLP political centre wasn’t going to be strong enough to hold on.
And even though an executive was formed in November 1999, a series of ‘events, dear boy, events’ ensured that it was, in essence, an executive in name only.
So, by the summer of 2000, my 1998 excitement had worn pretty thin. And it stayed that way until May 2007, when the DUP and Sinn Féin cut their own bespoke deal.
Since their executive wasn’t plagued by the problems that had plagued the UUP and SDLP, and since they both had strong mandates for the deal they had done, I again dared to believe that, as unlikely as it seemed, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness had saved devolution, saved the GFA and reopened the door to a form of government that really would make a difference for the better for everyone.
I don’t even have the excuse that I was awash with alcohol or high on drugs as an explanation for my optimistic giddiness in 2007.
Sham arrangement
Because within months it was obvious that the DUP/Sinn Féin arrangement – best understood as two competing governments around the same table – was a sham.
It was never going to be able to govern in the collective interest, because both parties prioritised their own voters and interests.
Worryingly, at least in terms of what might happen next, a majority of those who could be bothered to vote seemed quite happy to endorse the arrangement.
The complaints being made about government in 1999 and 2007 are still being made in 2025.
In fairness, 1999 was too early a point at which to expect any form of miracle; but even the 2007 ‘miracle’ and the manifestation of the Chuckle Brothers didn’t deliver.
Indeed, Paisley was dethroned in 2008 and replaced with Peter Robinson, whose main task was to keep the DUP together (because there were internal tensions) and well ahead of the UUP (because top dog position distracted attention from the fact that not much else was happening in terms of effective government).“
We all know where we are now: up excrement estuary without a paddle
And now? Well, we all know where we are now: up excrement estuary without a paddle.
Even if there were a paddle it would probably be cracked in half as the DUP and Sinn Féin struggled to steer their tri-andtry-again-maran in a direction of their own choosing.
Are there now any reasons to ever again expect either optimism or good government? Nope.
SDLP Brexit motion aimed at Alliance's 'fence-sitting' on border poll
Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, May 30th, 2025
RESOLUTION ARGUES IRISH UNITY ONLY VIABLE WAY TO REJOIN EU: O'TOOLE
Irish unity is the only way Northern Ireland can rejoin the EU and there is no point pretending otherwise, according to an SDLP motion MLAs will debate on Monday.
Stormont sources say the resolution is a way of putting pressure on the Alliance Party over its “fence-sitting” on a border poll. Alliance has been approached for comment.
Opposition leader Matthew O'Toole said the rise of Reform UK — which recently won the most votes, most seats and overall control of most councils in the local government elections in England — strengthened the argument for constitutional change here.
“It is not sectarian or tribal to say that you don't want to live in a country where Nigel Farage is the most influential politician,” he said.
“For the SDLP, the unity debate isn't just a traditional unionist/nationalist one. It's how you get Northern Ireland back into the EU.
“For us, it is good political sense to focus energy and attention on the question of a new Ireland.”
The SDLP MLA said it was now nine years since the UK voted for Brexit.
He added: “If you agree that it was a historically damaging and stupid thing to do, and that Northern Ireland's best place is back in the EU, then you must be honest about the mechanism that can achieve this.
“The only way is via a new Ireland because UK politics has structurally shifted so much to the right.”
A vote for unification is a vote to rejoin EU
Mr O'Toole said his party supported Keir Starmer's attempts to improve the London-Brussels relationship.
“However, it doesn't change the fact that people in Northern Ireland have no way of moving UK politics towards us meaningfully rejoining the EU,” he said.
“There is a miniscule prospect of that happening. Even if the UK was moving in that direction — which it isn't — there would still have to be a long and torturous process of renegotiation and re-accession.
“By contrast, voting for a new Ireland guarantees our return to the EU. It has been agreed by Brussels and London that Northern Ireland will automatically rejoin the EU by acceding to a member state.”
In an apparent reference to Alliance, Mr O'Toole added: “All those who say they believe in a European future for Northern Ireland should be honest and admit that there is only one plausible and realistic route to do so.
“Reform UK and the Tories oppose Starmer reaching even a basic deal with the EU on agri-food.
“There is no plausible route to Northern Ireland rejoining that wouldn't take decades.
“We are 1m out of 50m voters. Our return to the EU would depend on millions of people in England changing their minds.
“Even if this was a realistic option — and it's not — we would have no authorship of it. By comparison, we can decisively shape a new Ireland in the EU and vote for it.”
Mr O'Toole said he was speaking from a position of personal experience. “I was right in the middle of this in 2016. I was directly part of trying to keep the UK in the EU as a civil servant, and it just didn't happen,” he added.
The SDLP motion describes Brexit as “an act of historic, diplomatic and economic self-harm” and says Northern Ireland's best long-term interest is in “rejoining the EU which can only be done via a vote for a new Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement”.
Gerry Adams wins defamation action against BBC over Denis Donaldson’s death
Guardian, May 30th, 2025
A jury at Dublin’s High Court on Friday found that the BBC had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable way and awarded the former Sinn Féin leader €100,000 (£84,000) in damages
The verdict came after a high-profile four-week trial that scrutinised Adams’s alleged membership of the IRA and his role during Northern Ireland’s Troubles and peace process.
Lawyers for Adams accused the BBC of a “grievous smear” and “hatchet job”. Lawyers for the broadcaster defended the documentary and said the libel action was a cynical attempt to launder Adams’s reputation.
The former West Belfast MP said a BBC Spotlight documentary and accompanying online article defamed him in 2016 by claiming he had sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson, a former Sinn Féin official who was shot dead in County Donegal months after admitting he had for decades been a police and MI5 informant. The claim about Adams was made by an anonymous source known only as “Martin”.
Adams’s lawyers accused the BBC of “reckless journalism” and of making an “unjustified” attack on a man credited with helping to bring about the peace process that drew a line under the Troubles in 1998.
The BBC said it acted in good faith and that the claim was presented as an allegation and not as a fact and had been corroborated by five other sources, including the security services. Lawyers for the broadcaster argued that because Adams was widely considered to have been an IRA commander during the Troubles he had little reputation to lose and that any damages would be a “cruel joke”.
Speaking outside the court, Adams said: “From my perspective, taking this case was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation. I know many, many journalists. I like to think that I get on well with the most of them, and I wish you well, and I would uphold your right to do your job.
“But the British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, and in my view it’s out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday agreement. It hasn’t caught on to where we are on this island as part of the process, the continuing process, of building peace and justice, and harmony, and, hopefully, in the time ahead, unity.”
Paul Tweed, a solicitor for Adams, said his client was very pleased at the verdict, which he said showed the BBC should not have included the disputed claim in its broadcast. “Not only had the false allegation regarding our client been the focus of the Spotlight documentary, but it had been utilised to sensationalise and publicise their programme,” said Tweed.
“Furthermore, the fact that the false allegation has been left online for almost nine years has, in my opinion, done much to undermine the high standards of accuracy that is expected of the BBC. This case could and should have been resolved some considerable time ago.”
Adams, 76, took centre stage in the witness box for much of the trial, which covered his childhood and political awakening, the evolution of the Troubles, the IRA’s deadly campaign and the peace process. He repeatedly denied ever being a member of the IRA. “It wasn’t a path that I took,” he said.
Other witnesses included Jennifer O’Leary, the BBC reporter who made the documentary, and media experts who gave contrasting views on the programme and accompanying article. Litigation lawyers estimate the total cost of the trial could exceed several million euros.
No need to test veracity of allegation
Before sending out the jury to begin deliberations on Thursday, Justice Alexander Owens said there was no need to decide on the veracity of the allegation that Adams sanctioned Donaldson’s murder, or to make a judgment on the republican leader’s role in Irish history.
The judge instructed the jury of five men and seven women to consider whether the words in the documentary and article meant Adams had sanctioned the murder, or were presented only as an allegation, as the BBC had argued. The jury determined that the meaning of the words was that Adams had sanctioned the murder. It also found that the BBC had not acted in good faith and not proved its “fair publication” defence.
The judge had told the jury that if it found in favour of Adams and awarded damages, it should assess the damages on the basis of Adams’s current and recent reputation.
Adams was a Teachta Dála – a member of the Dáil – for Louth when the programme aired. He stepped down as president of Sinn Féin in 2018 after leading the party for 35 years.
Adam Smyth, the director of BBC Northern Ireland, expressed disappointment at the outcome. Speaking outside court, he said: “We are disappointed by this verdict. We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence applied to this programme, and to the accompanying online article. Moreover, it was accepted by the court and conceded by Gerry Adams’s legal team that the Spotlight broadcast and publication were of the highest public interest.
“We didn’t want to come to court but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision. Our past is difficult terrain for any jury and we thank them for their diligence and careful consideration of the issues in this case.”
Gerry Adams’ case against BBC: ex-Sinn Fein leader awarded €100,000 euro damages
By PA Reporter, Belfast News Letter, May 30th, 2025
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been awarded 100,000 euro (£84,000) in damages after winning his libel action against the BBC.
Mr Adams said that a BBC Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement.
A jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour on Friday, after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article.
It also found the BBC’s actions were not in good faith and that it had not acted in a fair and reasonable way.
Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Co Donegal in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent over 20 years.
In the programme broadcast in September 2016, an anonymous source given the pseudonym Martin claimed the shooting was sanctioned by the political and military leadership of the IRA and that Mr Adams gave “the final say”.
In 2009, the dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing and a Garda investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
Mr Adams said the allegation was a “grievous smear” while the BBC has described the legal action as a “cynical attempt to launder his reputation”.
The high-profile republican sought damages of at least 200,000 euro (£168,000) from the BBC.
However, the British public service broadcaster had argued it would be a “cruel joke” to award the former Sinn Fein president any damages.
The jury determined that Mr Adams should be awarded 100,000, which the jury heard falls on the medium scale for defamation.
Trial judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens sent the jury out to begin deliberations at 10.25am on Thursday morning, in the fifth week of proceedings.
The 12 members were also provided with exhibits in the case and the means to re-watch the programme.
At one stage in the deliberations, one of the jurors was released from the process due to other commitments, including a camogie match.
The remaining 11 members continued their consideration of the issues before delivering the verdict.
They were tasked with determining whether the words in the BBC spotlight programme and accompanying article, on which Mr Adams brought the complaint, mean that he sanctioned and approved the murder of Mr Donaldson.
Mr Owens said they were to consider whether it was “more likely than not” that a “hypothetical reasonable reader” would take that meaning from the words.
The BBC had argued that the jury should not find that this was the meaning of the words, instead saying the claim had been put forward as an allegation that was immediately followed by Mr Adams’ denial.
Having agreed with Mr Adams on that point, they then had to consider whether the broadcaster’s actions were fair and reasonable as well as whether it acted in good faith.
They determined that the BBC had not acted in such a manner.
They returned with their verdict on Friday after six hours and 49 minutes of deliberations in total.
Mr Owens told the jury that the BBC had put forward the position that Mr Adams had “no reputation at all” and the broadcaster had argued to the jury that it should award only nominal damages, putting forward the option of just one euro.
Mr Adams’ team had argued that the defamation fell within the “very serious” or “exceptional” end of the scale – seeking at least 200,000 euro.
“Resounding verdict”
Solicitor Paul Tweed said his client Gerry Adams is “very pleased with this resounding verdict”, adding the award of damages “speaks for itself”.
“The jury, 12 people from different walks of life, having listened to extensive evidence during the course of the past four weeks, has come to the unequivocal conclusion that the subject allegation was highly defamatory,” he said outside court.
“It therefore follows that the BBC Spotlight team at the time should not have included it in their broadcast. Not only had the false allegation regarding our client been the focus of the Spotlight documentary, but it had been utilised to sensationalise and publicise their programme.
“Furthermore, the fact that the false allegation has been left online for almost nine years has, in my opinion, done much to undermine the high standards of accuracy that is expected of the BBC.
“This case could and should have been resolved some considerable time ago.”
Mr Tweed said the “very significant financial consequences” could have been avoided.
“It begs a question as to whether there has been any political or other outside pressure on the BBC to take the stand they have taken,” he said.
“Our client is relieved and satisfied that these legal proceedings have concluded overwhelmingly in his favour after arduous years of litigation.”
"Putting manners” on BBC
Speaking outside court, Gerry Adams, who spoke in both Irish and English, said taking this case was “about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation”.
Mr Adams told reporters: “From my perspective, taking this case was was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation.
“I know many, many journalists. I like to think that I get on well with the most of them, and I wish you well, and I would uphold your right to do your job.
“But the British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, and in my view it’s out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement.
“It hasn’t caught on to where we are on this island as part of the process, the continuing process, of building peace and justice, and harmony, and, hopefully, in the time ahead, unity.”
Mr Adams said there is an onus on everyone, including himself, to deal with these legacy issues.
He said: “I’m very mindful of the Donaldson family in the course of this long trial, and indeed of the victims’ families who have had to watch all of this.
“I want to say that the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan should meet the family of Denis Donaldson as quickly as possible, and that there’s an onus on both governments and everyone else, and I include myself in this, to try and deal with these legacy issues as best that we can.”
"Full vindication”
Solicitors representing Gerry Adams have said the verdict of a jury provides a “full vindication” for the former Sinn Fein president.
In a statement, Johnsons Solicitors said: “The content of the subject BBC Spotlight programme and the subsequent online article published by the BBC contained totally untrue and defamatory claims regarding Mr Adams.
“The outcome today has provided a full vindication for our client, Mr Adams.”
“Licence payers are going to pay for this”
Gerry Adams said the it will be the BBC licence fee payers who will pay for the case and suggested there was “direct political interference”.
He told reporters: “I’m very mindful that this case could have been settled. The licence payers are going to pay for this.
“The BBC aren’t using their own money. Spotlight aren’t using their own money. It’s the licence payers. And as Paul Tweed has said this could have been sorted out a long time ago.
“But I’m mindful of an unrelated case, again, which I won, and which the Supreme Court in London decided that I and up to three or four hundred other internees had been unlawfully detained.
“And the British Prime Minister is refusing to pay, I don’t mind, but is refusing to pay compensation to what are now quite elderly former internees, and he has actually said that he will use every conceivable mechanism to prevent compensation being paid.
“So if you want an explanation why this went on for nine years and why we spent five weeks here, I think there is direct political interference with this.”
Gerry Adams was asked about what the outcome of the case means for his reputation.
He replied: “I’ve always been satisfied with my reputation.
“Obviously, like yourself, we all have flaws in our character, but the jury made the decision and let’s accept the outcome, and I think let’s accept what the jury said.”
“Disappointment”
Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, expressed disappointment in the outcome.
Speaking to media outside court, Mr Smyth said: “We are disappointed by this verdict.
“We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence applied to this programme, and to the accompanying online article. Moreover, it was accepted by the court and conceded by Gerry Adams’ legal team that the Spotlight broadcast and publication were of the highest public interest.
“We didn’t want to come to court but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision.
“Our past is difficult terrain for any jury and we thank them for their diligence and careful consideration of the issues in this case.
“The implications of their decision, though, are profound. As our legal team made clear, if the BBC’s case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it is hard to see how anyone’s could, and they warned how today’s decision would hinder freedom of expression.
“Of course, a case of this importance, duration and complexity involves significant expense. In common with other media organisations, the BBC has insurance and makes financial provision for ongoing and anticipated legal claims.”
He added they will take some time to consider the implications of the ruling.
BBC Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary said she had nothing to hide, only sources to protect.
She also thanked the BBC and its legal team for defending journalism.
Ms O’Leary said: “I said in the witness box that I had nothing to hide, only sources to protect, and I want to thank them for trusting me.
“I’m a big believer in trying your best in life and going about your business with integrity, and I want to pay a particular tribute to our witnesses in court, senator Michael McDowell, Trevor Ringland, and in particular Ann Travers, who spoke so courageously.
“There are thousands of Ann Travers across this island and in Britain, victims and survivors of the Troubles, and in the years of violence after the peace agreement … those people carry the burden of their grief and trauma with incredible dignity and courage, and they are the people I am thinking of, I know my colleagues are also thinking of. I am thinking of all of them today.”
Despite libel win, Gerry Adams being cast as ‘peacemaker’ remains a stretch
John Downing, Irish Independent, May 30th, 2025
The march of time has seen key people featured through the North’s 30 years of murder and mayhem exit the public stage one by one.
Gerry Adams, a central figure through all those violent years and their aftermath, is pretty much “last man standing” and now working vigorously in quasi-retirement on his “peacemaker” legacy.
Adams’s ardent supporters are presenting this High Court defamation win, and a compensation award of €100,000, as an important step in securing that legacy.
Others, with good grounds, will take a different view despite this swift High Court jury verdict.
On the nationalist side both the North’s key leaders, John Hume and Séamus Mallon, have died as has peace-crusading Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, along with Unionist leaders including, David Trimble and Ian Paisley.
Other key figures, like former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and the ex-British prime minister Tony Blair, have retired from politics.
Many of Gerry Adams’s republican comrades, notably Martin McGuinness, have also either died or retired. The fates have left Gerry Adams, who turns 77 in October, standing almost alone on that stage, giving him some belated advantage in pushing peace credentials.
Yet, of all the names cited above, Gerry Adams was the most divisive, provoking admiration on one hand, and revulsion on the other hand. Passage of time can dim, but not eradicate, such polarised reactions.
The simple fact is that the BBC editorial managers erred seriously in ever airing what the High Court jury agreed was a flimsy allegation that Gerry Adams had sanctioned a brutal murder in 2006. Those BBC managers further erred in their quixotic efforts to ever defend a very weak case.
A modest victory
The jurors accepted the Adams’s lawyers’ arguments that alleging de facto murder without strong proofs amounts to defamation, but they levied modest enough damages given these serious allegations.
Most Irish citizens accept those jury findings, an acceptance not always vouchsafed by Mr Adams and his republican cohorts when other court outcomes were not advantageous.
Other facts, which have long been rehearsed and repeated during this 21-day Dublin High Court process remain, though not deemed central to the sting of the case against the BBC.
We heard again evidence Gerry “Never-In-IRA” Adams, was in point of fact an IRA man for decades, despite his repeated denials.
That was and remains the view of many politicians, security service personnel, and leading journalists, in Ireland and Britain. It was and is the determined view of many close IRA comrades of Mr Adams, some of whom resented his disavowal of membership.
Mr Adams and his supporters assert disputes and dissidence for these former comrades’ statements.
It is clear that Gerry Adams became active in republicanism in the mid to late 1960s. Both republican and security sources indicate that he held the ranks of IRA intelligence officer, battalion quartermaster, and later battalion commander before his internment in 1972, while later becoming an army council member and chief of staff.
He was notably released from detention soon after his arrest specifically to take part in talks in London with British Northern Ireland minister, William Whitelaw.
Long Kesh
Adams allegedly became IRA Belfast commander before being re-arrested and sent to Long Kesh where he really made a name for himself as a dominant figure in discussion groups there.
He also wrote for the IRA newspaper, An Phoblacht, under the pseudonym ‘Brownie’. One piece, he claimed was written by a fellow prisoner, confessed to being an IRA volunteer.
These proceedings heard Whitelaw and colleagues believed Adams represented the IRA at the failed London talks, while Adams insisted that he was a Sinn Féin delegate, and always dedicated to political action. His long-time thesis has been that he was a close IRA supporter and defender but always dedicated to political action.
So, to “Adams the peacemaker". How valid can such assertions be?
Well, he certainly helped guide the IRA and Sinn Féin through a difficult and slow path from the mid-1990s onwards. It is a simple fact that if the IRA were not persuaded to stop, making a fragile peace in the North would have been less certain.
But a central question remains: Does accepting a way out of a conflict that was unwinnable for the IRA amount to being a peacemaker? Should one get a peace award because the movement you have defended and lauded cease murder and slaughter?
The passage of time and emergence of a rising generation without memory of the horror years 1969-1998 make that a possibility, glossing over the 1,700-plus people murdered by Republican paramilitaries.
Those of us who lived through it all will acknowledge Gerry Adams’s successful defamation action – but find a peacemaker legacy far too much of a stretch.
Gerry Adams v BBC libel case: What the jury didn’t hear
Mr Justice Owens ruled that evidence of Denis Donaldson’s daughter was not relevant to questions to be decided by jury
Fiachra Gallagher, Irish Times, May 30th, 2025
Jane Donaldson, daughter of the murdered British agent Denis Donaldson, was prevented from giving evidence during Gerry Adams’s defamation legal action against the BBC.
Without the jury present, Ms Donaldson told Mr Justice Alexander Owens her family has an “open mind” regarding who is responsible for her father’s killing but does not believe the Real IRA’s claim to it.
The Real IRA claimed responsibility for Mr Donaldson’s murder three years after his killing.
On Friday, a jury found the BBC defamed Mr Adams by publishing a claim in 2016 that the former Sinn Féin leader gave the go-ahead for the Provisional IRA to kill Mr Donaldson in Glenties, Co Donegal, in 2006. The jury awarded Mr Adams €100,000 in damages.
Paul Gallagher SC, the BBC’s barrister, sought to have Ms Donaldson admitted as a witness during the trial. He contended that Adams’s legal side made a “big play” about the Donaldson family’s view about who is responsible for the murder.
Mr Gallagher submitted they should be entitled to counter the evidence of Ciaran Shiels, a solicitor who previously represented the Donaldson family, on this issue.
Earlier in the trial, Mr Shiels told the jury Mr Donaldson’s family did not accept or believe Mr Adams had anything to do with his murder.
Mr Adams’s lawyers objected to Ms Donaldson being admitted as a witness.
Mr Justice Owens did not admit Ms Donaldson’s evidence, as he held that it was not relevant to the questions to be decided by the jury. The judge noted she could not recall discussing the allegation about Mr Adams with Mr Shiels.
The BBC was also prevented from calling as witnesses historian Professor Eunan O’Halpin and campaigner Austin Stack, whose father Brian – a prison officer at Portlaoise Prison – was killed by the Provisional IRA in 1984.
Led through her evidence by Mr Gallagher in the absence of the jury, Ms Donaldson referred to a recent statement she issued to a newspaper, stating: “My family has made it publicly known that we never accepted the bogus claim of responsibility [for Mr Donaldson’s killing], which lacks all credibility, by a single Real IRA source in 2009.”
Asked by Mr Gallagher what her family’s position is on who was responsible for the murder, Ms Donaldson said: “Our position is that we have an open mind. We don’t know who killed my father.”
Asked by the judge about the Real IRA’s claim, Ms Donaldson said that at the time, the family “felt it didn’t make sense”.
She said details in their account “didn’t correlate” with sensitive and confidential information they had gathered from the Garda.
Ms Donaldson said she couldn’t recall having a conversation with Mr Shiels about the allegation made against Mr Adams.
She added that the family’s view on who was responsible for the murder has “evolved and changed over time”.
“I think we still had an open mind on it and we were reluctant to give a view on the matter [at the time of the broadcast],” she said.
Ms Donaldson said Mr Shiels was never a spokesperson for the family, but did at times deal with the media on their behalf. Mr Shiels previously represented the family at inquest hearings.
She said she had had no contact with Mr Shiels since 2019, and her family, as of earlier this year, no longer retained Madden and Finucane – Mr Shiels’s firm – as their solicitors.
Family did not support either side in court case
Cross-examined by Tom Hogan SC, for Mr Adams, Ms Donaldson said her family was “not in support” of either party involved in the defamation action.
She said she was unaware of a meeting in April 2016 between Mr Shiels and journalist Jennifer O’Leary to discuss the Spotlight programme.
Ms Donaldson accepted she was aware and told of a subsequent meeting in May to discuss the programme, attended by Mr Shiels, Ms O’Leary and Ms Donaldson’s husband, Ciarán Kearney.
In his evidence, Mr Adams said Declan Kearney, Ms Donaldson’s brother-in-law, investigated Mr Donaldson when allegations first emerged that he was an informant.
She accepted that following that meeting, Mr Shiels engaged in correspondence with the Spotlight team on behalf of the family.
She also accepted Mr Shiels spoke for the family – “as our solicitor” – in comments he made to the media directly after the broadcast of the Spotlight programme.
Ms Donaldson told the judge that their family’s focus was on pursuing the truth about the murder.
She said that for 19 years, her family had been seeking information on who exposed Mr Donaldson as a British spy, and who conspired to murder him.
She said it was a matter of public record that the identity of the British agent known as Stakeknife – the Belfast man and IRA member Freddie Scappaticci – was protected. Her father, however, was “thrown to the wolves”, she said.
In a statement issued after the trial, Ms Donaldson said her family’s tragedy was “trivialised” by Mr Adams, who “prioritised his own financial and reputational interests over any regard for traumatising my family”.
“No one spoke for my family in court,” she said. “We supported neither side in this case.”
She called for a public inquiry, with a cross-Border dimension, into her father’s death.
Comments
"Complaints of one-sided treatment may often be insincere, simplistic or partisan, but that only underscores the corrosive effect of inconsistent application of the law.
One way to resolve this would be to de-proscribe the Provisional IRA. Unlike Ireland, the UK bases its terrorism laws around a list of banned organisations. There is a statutory process to request removal from the list. A loyalist group attempted this unsuccessfully in 2017 and lawyers in London are seeking the same for [Hamas](https://archive.ph/...//www.irishtimes.com/tags/hamas/); among their arguments is a comparison of Hamas to [Sinn Féin](https://archive.ph/...//www.irishtimes.com/tags/sinn-fein/).
Any hint of legalising the Provisional IRA would be enormously contentious, to an extent that could prove counterproductive for political stability. Although de-proscription appears unfeasible for the time being, it is a genuine mystery why the prospect has not been suggested by republicanism. Perhaps acknowledging the IRA’s continued existence is too awkward, or seeking British permission for its existence is intolerable."
https://www.irishtimes.com/.../newton-emerson-the.../
Liam O’Rourke, Irish Republican Forum
