Jury sworn in for Gerry Adams’ defamation case against BBC

Tue, 29 Apr, 2025 - 12:32

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

A jury has been sworn in for a defamation case brought by former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams against the BBC.

Beginning proceedings at the High Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said the trial is likely to last four weeks.

The judge told jurors the trial was a “controlled process” that should be decided on the evidence before the court. He asked jurors to resist engaging in any of their own research.

Claims were made in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme in 2016 over who sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson.

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams arrived at the High Court in Dublin. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA

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

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

Speaking to the media as he arrived at court, Mr Adams said he was seeking to see the “record corrected”.

He said if he was offered compensation he would donate it to good causes.

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

He served as an MP for west Belfast and represented Co Louth in the Dáil for nine years until the 2020 general election, when he retired from politics.