Gerry Adams has rejected a suggestion that he was a senior IRA member released from internment as a precondition to talks aimed at securing a truce between it and the British army in 1972.
The former Sinn Féin leader was giving evidence on the second week of his High Court action against the BBC, in which he claims a Spotlight programme and a related article published in 2016 defamed him by falsely accusing him of sanctioning the 2006 killing of British agent Denis Donaldson.
The BBC denies it defamed Mr Adams, who insists he had no involvement in Mr Donaldson’s death, which dissident republicans claimed responsibility for in 2009.
Responding to Paul Gallagher SC, for the BBC, on Tuesday, Mr Adams said he was “not prepared to speculate” on who was or was not a member of the IRA at any time.
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Asked if he knew anyone in the IRA when he participated in talks aimed at securing a truce between it and the British army in 1972, Mr Adams said many people had “acknowledged they were members” and that he was being asked “to go on a fishing expedition”.
Mr Gallagher also referred to a book published under the IRA pseudonym P O’Neill, which stated that a demand to release a senior Belfast Brigade officer from internment was a precondition for the IRA in advance of the 1972 truce talks. Mr Adams denied this purported demand was a reference to him.
Mr Adams previously told the court he was released from Long Kesh prison to participate in the truce talks. He said he attended as a representative of Sinn Féin.
Under repeated questioning from Mr Gallagher, Mr Adams said he did not intend on speculating on the rules and structures of the IRA.
The jury was earlier shown a series of interview and documentary clips carrying various allegation about Mr Adams – including how several people identified him as a member of the IRA, that he sat on the IRA’s army council, and that he was involved in the killing of Jean McConville, a mother of 10 who was shot and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972.
The montage also included past statements made by Mr Adams relating to his attitude to IRA violence.
In response to questions about the content of the montage, Mr Adams said counsel was attempting to “smother” the jury with selective clips, “in most cases interviewing those who were entirely hostile” to his and others’ efforts to end the conflict.
Asked about comments made by Sean Mac Stíofáin in a PBS documentary that Mr Adams was a member of the IRA involved in talks with British officials in 1972, the plaintiff said Mr Mac Stiofáin – a former IRA chief of staff – was mistaken.
In an interview with BBC Spotlight broadcast in 2019, shown to the jury, former IRA member Des Long alleges that Mr Adams was on the IRA’s army council and at one point chaired its meetings.
Mr Adams said Mr Long, described as a member of the IRA’s army executive, was a “dissident” who was against efforts to end the conflict in the North.
“He is not a reliable witness ... he would have me shot in the morning,” Mr Adams said.
Asked about the IRA’s killing and secretly burying people during the Troubles, Mr Adams said the practice was wrong. He said he was not aware of the practice of “disappearing” people during the Troubles.
Mr Adams disagreed that a photograph – seen by the jury – depicting him wearing a black beret at a Belfast funeral in the early 1970s showed him in paramilitary garb worn by IRA members.
Asked about allegations made in Patrick Radden Keefe’s 2018 book Say Nothing, Mr Adams called the American journalist a “complete opportunist”.
Mr Adams said he took no action against Mr Radden Keefe over the book, which the court heard alleges he was involved in killings of Ms McConville and other “disappeared”.
Before being shown the montage, Mr Justice Alexander Owens told the jury the material came with a “health warning”, noting that the fact people say certain things about someone does not mean something is true.
Mr Adams on Tuesday repeated that he “never resiled” from the fact that he believed the IRA was a legitimate response to military occupation.
“It’s a historical position. The IRA have left now,” he said.
