Lawsuits against the state from people interned in Northern Ireland 50 years ago now number up to 400

The claims follow a pattern set out by former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who last year won a landmark court case against the state on the basis of his detention without trial.

Mr Adams was among those swept up by security forces as the bodycount in the Province began to rocket during the early 1970s.

From August 9, 1971 to the point where internment ended on December 5, 1975, the University of Ulster estimates that 1,981 people were detained (95% of whom were republicans / nationalists).

Some were wholly innocent, like former SDLP Lord Mayor of Belfast Paddy McCarthy.

Others, like former Sinn Fein publicity chief Danny Morrison, were involved with the IRA.

UP TO 400 CASES:

The ballooning number of cases has come to light thanks to Kate Hoey, the Ulster-born ex-Labour MP, who now sits in the House of Lords.

She had asked the government a series of questions, including:

Whether compensation has been paid to Gerry Adams after his legal victory last year;

How many claims have been made by others to have their convictions overturned or obtain compensation;

And how many of these have been settled and paid, and for what total amount.

The answers came from Tory peer Lord Caine, a new arrival to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

He said: “There has been no compensation paid to Gerard Adams relating to litigation against the NIO.

“There have been two other appeals to have convictions overturned that have been allowed.

“There are a further two who have filed applications for leave to appeal, which have not yet been dealt with.

“There are a number of internment-related civil claims against the NIO.

“The claims are asking for compensation on the basis of the claimants’ view that they were unlawfully detained on a similar basis to Mr Adams.

“None of these have been settled and the vast majority have not progressed far beyond the pre-action stage.”

Pressed further by Baroness Hoey, he said: “There are currently approximately 300 to 400 internment-related civil claims against the Northern Ireland Office brought on a similar basis to that of the case of R vs Adams.”

Last time the News Letter looked into this affair, in May 2020, the number of such claims stood at about 230.

INTERNMENT CAME AS NI CRUMBLED:

According to the Supreme Court ruling in Adams’ favour, the way in which internment worked was this.

An interim custody order was made in cases where the government “considered that an individual was involved in terrorism”.

The person was then held, but had to be released within 28 days unless the Chief Constable referred the matter to a commissioner “who had the power to make a detention order if satisfied that the person was involved in terrorism”.

A custody order was issued for Mr Adams on July 21, 1973.

He tried to break free twice (March 20, 1975, and April 18, 1975), and was twice convicted of “attempting to escape from lawful custody”.

Mr Adams basically argued that because his July 21 custody order was signed by a Minister of State (one grade down from the Secretary of State), his detention was unlawful.

Five judges of the Supreme Court (Lord Kerr, Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Kitchin, Lord Burnett) ruled last year that the use of a custody order should have been “exercised by the Secretary of State personally”, not by one of his juniors.

It thus followed that Mr Adams was wrongly detained - and so his attempts to escape could not have been unlawful.

The clerical error occurred at a time when the government was struggling to maintain control in the Province, which was rapidly descending into a bloody morass.

In 1971, the year internment began, there were 171 murders, jumping to 480 in 1972, and remaining above 250 per annum for several years after that.

Reacting to the news that up to 400 new cases may now be in the offing on the back of Mr Adams’ victory, barrister-turned-DUP MP Gavin Robinson said: “No one can question the onslaught of terrorism in our society and the need for quick and effective emergency action in the early ‘70s.”

When it comes to the potentially hundreds of compensation cases arising from the Adams’ judgement, Mr Robinson said that he “will be raising this with the Secretary of State urgently”.

SF WISHES CLAIMANTS WELL:

It is unclear what the level of compensation could be for Mr Adams (the firm which acted for him, O Muirigh Solicitors, did not respond to requests for comment).

However when Danny Morrison had his own 1991 convictions (relating to the abduction of an alleged IRA informer) quashed, he ended up getting around £200,000 in compensation.

In that case, Mr Morrison had spent about five years behind bars.

This is only a very rough estimation, but if all 400 cases were successful and won similar payouts as Mr Morrison, the total cost could be around £80 million.

Asked about the growing number of claims of this nature against the state, Sinn Fein said: “[We are[ not involved in these cases, but we wish those who are taking these cases continued success in challenging the systemic criminality and abuse of human rights of citizens by the British state in Ireland.”

The NIO declined to comment.

More from this reporter:

Click here: Vast NI spending hike during Covid crisis ‘just shows up the folly of united Irelanders’

Click here: Revealed – Massive Covid spending splurge in Northern Ireland is equivalent to having a second health department

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptionsnow to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry, Editor