{"id":337394,"date":"2026-03-09T19:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/337394\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:02:11","slug":"gerry-adams-appears-to-wear-protective-vest-as-civil-case-hears-he-was-directly-responsible-for-england-bomb-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/337394\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerry Adams appears to wear protective vest as civil case hears he was \u2018directly responsible\u2019 for England bomb decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawyers for Mr Adams said \u201che emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies that he was ever a member of the IRA\u201d\n<\/p>\n

John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, all allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council.<\/p>\n

The three men are bringing legal action against the former Sinn F\u00e9in president and are seeking \u00a31 in damages.<\/p>\n

Mr Adams denies that he had any role in the Provisional IRA and is opposing the claim.<\/p>\n

He arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice today wearing what appeared to be a bullet-proof vest, and was driven into the car park.<\/p>\n

\"Gerry<\/p>\n

Gerry Adams wearing protective equipment as he arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London (James Manning\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

The court in London heard that the three men want to show how Mr Adams was involved in the Provisional IRA \u201cin the course of that conflict and to show on the balance of probabilities that he was as involved as the people who planted and detonated those bombs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, where a civil claim is being brought against him for just \u00a31 in damages by three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s. James Manning\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

\"Barry<\/p>\n

Barry Laycock (right) outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, where a civil claim is being brought against former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams for just \u00a31 in damages by three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s. James Manning\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

Opening her case today, Anne Studd KC, representing the men, also said Mr Adams was \u201cdirectly responsible for and complicit in those decisions made by that organisation to detonate bombs on the British mainland in 1973 and 1996\u201d.<\/p>\n

In written submissions, Ms Studd said: \u201cThe defendant carefully draws a distinction between being a member of \u2018the Army\u2019 and being a member of Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, the evidence will demonstrate that this was not the clear either\/or choice as the defendant would have you believe.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many individuals, we say, including Mr Adams, that was a distinction without a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Studd told the court that a \u201cjigsaw\u201d of evidence from those who knew Mr Adams and those who knew of him will prove the case against him.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe claimants\u2019 case is that none of these bombings in the United Kingdom mainland took place without the knowledge and agreement of the defendant in his role in the Provisional IRA and latterly as a member of the seven-man Army Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

She concluded: \u201cThere is no doubt that the defendant contributed to the peace in Northern Ireland, but the claimants say that on the evidence he also contributed to the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Studd also told the court that Mr Adams had \u201ca foot in each camp\u201d of the military and political sides of the Republican movement.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWhat we have here are witnesses who give evidence about intelligence that they saw amassed over years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt provided details of the structure of the Provisional IRA, the election of the army executive and the appointment of those executive members of the seven-person Army Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Army Council set the strategy for the Provisional IRA through all the years of the Troubles. It did not really change in its basic information, which was that the defendant was an instrumental force in the organisation of the Provisional IRA and building of the two-strand attack \u2013 Armalite and the ballot box.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, where a civil claim is being brought against him for just \u00a31 in damages by three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s. James Manning\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

News in 90 seconds – March 9th <\/p>\n

Lawyers for Mr Adams, who denies the claims, said Mr Adams \u201cplayed an instrumental role in the peace process which culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, which brought an end to the decades-long conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

Edward Craven KC, for Mr Adams, told the court: \u201cMr Adams emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies any involvement in the bombings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies that he was ever a member of the IRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThere is no dispute that claimants are victims of bombings that occurred in 1973 and 1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no dispute they have suffered immensely as a result of those bombings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cNothing is intended to deny or downplay either the existence or extent of their injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said there was \u201cno shortage of people with an axe to grind\u201d who sought to discredit his client.<\/p>\n

He said people such as British officials, members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or other republicans opposed to the peace process had an interest in discrediting Mr Adams, who denies ever being a member of the Provisional IRA.<\/p>\n

The barrister said: \u201cThe claimants are saying, there is a lot of smoke, there must be fire, but that is not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThere is no doubt whatsoever that during The Troubles, Mr Adams sought to justify the actions of the IRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

In written submissions, Mr Craven said: \u201cThe defendant\u2019s alleged factual and legal responsibility for the claimants\u2019 injuries is strongly contested, as is the claimants\u2019 ability to bring these claims against the defendant several decades after the expiry of the applicable limitation period.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that there is \u201cno legal or practical reason why these claims could not have been issued long before 2022\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Craven continued: \u201cEven if the claim were not bound to fail on limitation grounds, the claim must inevitably fail on the merits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant strenuously denies any involvement in the bombings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said: \u201cThe defendant has never been arrested on suspicion of, still less charged or convicted of, any offence in connection with any of the bombings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad law enforcement authorities been in possession of information which created a reasonable suspicion that the defendant may have been involved in those bombings, he would have been arrested and questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking after the first day of the trial, Mr Adams said: \u201cI\u2019m here to defend myself and to challenge the allegations being made against me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will let the court get on with its business.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would like to say for the record and at the outset that the only thing that I am guilty of is being an Irish republican committed to ending British rule in our country and seeking to unite the people of Ireland on the basis of freedom, equality, peace and solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial before Mr Justice Swift is expected to end next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawyers for Mr Adams said \u201che emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies that he was ever a member of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,898,43,60422,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-337394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news-ticker","tag-news","tag-news-in-90-seconds","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}