Calls for justice for IRA victims after collapse of London civil action against Gerry Adams
Politicians have expressed sympathies with the victims of the IRA’s decades-long campaign of terrorism after complainants in a civil action against Gerry Adams withdrew their case.
Three men injured in IRA bombings in the 1970s and 1990s sued the former Sinn Fein leader for £1 in damages over allegations he was a leading member of the Provisional IRA at the time of the attacks.
The former Sinn Fein leader – who denied any role in the IRA – welcomed the “emphatic end” of the High Court case against him – saying it “should never have been brought”.
The case ended abruptly as it neared its end on Friday, with the claimants’ solicitors saying their claim being discontinued was the result of “an extraordinary and, in our clients’ view, unnecessary late intervention by the court”.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the end of the civil case must not mark the end of the pursuit of justice for victims of IRA terrorism, while Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows said it was “another difficult day for victims”.
Speaking after the development, Gregory Campbell MP said his thoughts “are first and foremost with the innocent victims of IRA terrorism who brought this case in the hope of securing truth and accountability for the horrific injuries they suffered”.
He said they “showed immense courage in taking forward legal action” the discontinuation of the case “will be disappointing for them and for many others who continue to live with the consequences of IRA violence”.
UUP leader Jon Burrows said: “Today, of all days, my thoughts are with every innocent victim of terrorism and their families who still carry the unbearable pain inflicted by the IRA’s cowardly campaign of murder, including those by loyalist paramilitaries”. He said victims have spent decades seeking the truth about the IRA’s atrocities.
Mr Burrows said the “only mechanism capable of forcing accountability is a full public inquiry into the leadership of the IRA murder machine. Until that happens, victims will continue to be denied the truth”.
Mr Adams has previously said he “wouldn’t agree everything the IRA did” and that he regretted that so many civilians were killed during the Troubles.