Victims 'will be sickened' by compensation for Gerry Adams ruling

The party’s spokesperson on Troubles legacy, Emma Little Pengelly, said that terror victims were more deserving of compensation than a Sinn Fein leader who “eulogised and sought to explain the actions of the PIRA for decades”.​

Ms Little Pengelly was commenting after a High Court judge ruled on Friday that the former Sinn Fein president was wrongly denied compensation after his convictions for attempted prison breaks were quashed.

“For innocent victims of the IRA to see Gerry Adams now receiving compensation will be sickening,” she said.

“Whatever administration mistakes were made leading to this court ruling, the entire process will be seen to have made a mockery of justice.”

TUV leader Jim Allister also said his thoughts are with the victims of the IRA following the court’s decision.

He said: “With today’s ruling that Gerry ‘I was never in the IRA’ Adams should be considered for compensation over his nullified conviction, our courts are in danger of losing public credibility and being seen as becoming a tool of orchestrated claims against the state.

“My thoughts, again, are with the countless victims of the IRA who only ever got a pittance in compensation when loved ones were butchered by terrorists.”

Victims’ advocate Kenny Donaldson said it seemed like another instance where the law was being manipulated “for the purpose of historical rewrite”.

The SEFF director of services added: “Innocent victims and survivors of terrorism will have their heads in their hands when watching the news this evening or reading tomorrow's newspapers.”