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A court sketch of Mr Adams giving evidence on Tuesday. Photo: Elizabeth Cook\/PA.<\/p>\nThe Northern Irish peace process was given to the British government \u201con a plate\u201d, Gerry Adams has told the High Court.<\/p>\n
Adams is giving evidence on Tuesday in defence of a legal claim brought against him by three victims of bombings in England by the Provisional IRA in the 1970s and 1990s.<\/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, and are seeking \u00a31 in damages.<\/p>\n
We put together a peace process. It was given to John Major\u2019s government, if I may use the expression, on a plate<\/p>\n
Gerry Adams<\/p>\n
The former Sinn F\u00e9in president denies the allegations and is defending the claim, telling the court that he had \u201cno involvement whatsoever\u201d in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA.<\/p>\n
Adams, wearing a dark suit and tie, a shamrock and a badge of the Palestinian flag, began his evidence by wishing the judge, Mr Justice Swift, \u201ca very happy St Patrick\u2019s Day\u201d.<\/p>\n
Later on Tuesday, Sir Max Hill KC, for the victims, suggested during cross-examination that Mr Adams used bombs as a way to get the British government to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
Sir Max said: \u201cI am asking whether you accept that bombing Britain has worked for you, Mr Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Adams replied: \u201cNo. We put together a peace process. It was given to John Major\u2019s government, if I may use the expression, on a plate.<\/p>\n
A court sketch of Mr Adams giving evidence on Tuesday. Photo: Elizabeth Cook\/PA.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was handed this put together by people in Ireland with help from our friends in Irish America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no reason whatsoever in any person\u2019s language why the people who live on the island of Ireland cannot be free from British rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams said later: \u201cI think it\u2019s OK to have friendly relationships with your neighbours, but we don\u2019t want our neighbours living in our house, living in our home.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked whether he had disdain for John Major\u2019s government, Mr Adams said: \u201cIt\u2019s done, it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have learnt that you have to live in the nows, you can\u2019t live in the past, you have to live in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cA united Ireland is not inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI hope to live in a united Ireland, but if I do not, I will go to my grave content that I have played a role in bringing about a united Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said: \u201cWe are not at the end objective yet, but we have peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gerry Adams arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday (Aaron Chown\/PA)<\/p>\n
Adams has claimed that while he was a member of Sinn F\u00e9in, and was the organisation\u2019s president from 1983 to 2018, he \u201cwas never a member of the IRA or its Army Council, and I never held any role or rank within the IRA\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told the court that he never took an oath of allegiance to the Provisional IRA, and attended talks with the British government in London in 1972 in his capacity as a member of Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n
Adams then denied Max\u2019s claim that he was \u201crewriting history\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Tuesday, Adams told the court that while he did not distance himself from the Provisional IRA, he was glad the organisation had \u201cleft the stage\u201d and that there were \u201cdastardly things that were done that should never have been done\u201d.<\/p>\n
In his witness statement, he also said that he \u201chad no involvement in or advance knowledge\u201d of the three bombings.<\/p>\n
Anne Studd KC, for the bomb victims, previously told the trial that being a member of Sinn Fein and a member of the Provisional IRA was \u201ca distinction without a difference\u201d for some individuals, including Mr Adams.<\/p>\n
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