Gerry Adams defamation action against BBC due before High Court

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams’s defamation action against the BBC over allegations about the murder of an MI5 spy is due to begin.

Claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 over who sanctioned the killing of British spy Denis Donaldson.

Mr Donaldson (55) was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties in Co Donegal in April 2006 after having been exposed as a British spy while in the IRA.

Mr Adams has denied the allegation that he had any involvement in ordering the murder.

The 76-year-old stepped down as Sinn Féin president in 2018 after 34 years at the helm.

He served as an MLA for Belfast West for more than 11 years until 2010, and represented Co Louth in the Dáil for nine years until the 2020 general election, when he retired from politics.

The case will come before Judge Alexander Owens in Dublin’s High Court on Tuesday.