Gerry Adams: Trial date set for former Sinn Fein President to face IRA volunteers in court in civil action
The date has been set for a civil action trial against former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.
The civil claim brought by three victims of Provisional IRA terror attacks has received “a powerful boost” with the confirmation of the trial dates, their lawyers have said.
The trial will begin on March 9 2026, with an expectation that the trial will last seven days.
This will be the first time that Mr Adams will be cross-examined in an English court.
He will appear in person, about allegations that he was a leader of the Provisional IRA during the Troubles and its decades-long bombing campaign across Britain.
Mr Adams will not be calling any witnesses in his defence, but will appear himself, according to lawyers for the claimants.
The claimants will be introducing evidence from almost a dozen witnesses that include former members of the police and security services.
Former members of the IRA will also give evidence against him, the claimants’ lawyers say.
Mr Adams denies ever having been in the IRA.
The three IRA victims and survivors are seeking just £1 in damages for “vindicatory purposes”.
John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, all allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the PIRA on those dates, including of its Army Council.
The solicitor behind the case, Matthew Jury, of McCue Jury & Partners LLP, previously played a leading role in the civil action against the Omagh bombers.
He said recently: “Finally, after five decades, Adams will appear in person in an English court for the first time to be cross-examined by the victims of his alleged leadership of the IRA, in which, it is claimed, he oversaw a campaign of indiscriminate bombings which resulted in the murder of almost a thousand civilians and the maiming of perhaps tens of thousands more ...”
The legal case against Mr Adams is being funded by public donations. It has currently raised £71,255 out of a target of £100,000.