Gerry Adams to Testify in Civil Trial Over IRA Bombing Claims
Gerry Adams is scheduled to take the witness stand in a London court as his civil trial concerning allegations of his involvement in significant IRA bombing decisions approaches its conclusion.
Three men are seeking a High Court ruling that Adams is personally responsible for injuries they sustained in bombings in London and Manchester.
Mr Justice Swift has been informed that Adams was alleged to have been a member of the IRA army council for 30 years and served as its "de facto" leader.
Adams, aged 77, firmly denies any participation in the attacks and has consistently rejected assertions that he was ever a member of the IRA.
The former Sinn Féin leader is the sole witness called by the defence.
He is expected to be questioned by Sir Max Hill KC, a former director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, who is among the lawyers representing the claimants.
Claims and Legal Arguments
The legal action was initiated by John Clark, a survivor of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing, along with Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who were injured in the 1996 bombings in London's Docklands and Manchester's Arndale Shopping Centre, respectively.
They are seeking £1 each in "vindicatory" damages.
Adams' legal team has contended that the case relies on "an assortment of hearsay" and that it has been filed several decades too late.
They argue that the claim should be subject to the three-year limitation period established by legislation enacted in 1980.
"If the issue of limitation is determined in the defendant's favour, then the claim must fail and the court is not required to make any findings in respect of liability,"
they stated.
Evidence Presented by Claimants
Several former police and Army personnel called by the claimants have testified that intelligence materials identified Adams as a member of the IRA army council from the late 1970s until 2005.
Retired Colonel Richard Kemp asserted it was "inconceivable" that Adams would not have been involved in authorising the 1996 bombings, noting that the Docklands attack ended the first IRA ceasefire.
It was also claimed that Adams played an "instrumental" role in the decision to bomb the Old Bailey in London when he was allegedly a senior IRA figure in Belfast.
The claimants maintain that Adams is as culpable as those who physically planted the bombs.
They have raised over £100,000 through crowdfunding to support the case.
Following a pre-trial ruling, Adams is barred from recovering his legal costs from the claimants, which are believed to be in the six-figure range, should he successfully defend the claim.
Background on Gerry Adams
Adams was charged with IRA membership in 1978, but the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
His only convictions related to the Troubles era were for two attempts to escape prison while interned without trial in the mid-1970s; these convictions were quashed in 2020.
He has previously been questioned in court regarding his alleged IRA involvement—during the Ballymurphy inquest in Belfast in 2019 and in a libel case against the BBC in Dublin in 2025.
