Two former members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) have testified in the High Court that Gerry Adams was the leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The former Sinn Féin leader is being sued for symbolic damages of £1 each by three men who allege he was responsible for IRA bombings in which they were injured.
Retired detective Tim Hanley stated in his written witness statement: 'There is no question in my mind that Adams was the leader of the PIRA [Provisional IRA]; that’s what all the intelligence concluded.' He added that Adams led the organisation until the mid-2000s and that 'the PIRA is like the mafia; you never really leave it.'
A second witness, anonymised as 'witness B', said intelligence indicated Adams was a senior member of the IRA army council and the de facto leader. He stated: 'I can state categorically that all of my working colleagues in the RUC special branch believed this to be the case.'
Adams denies ever having been a member of the IRA or sitting on its army council. His barristers questioned why police did not arrest him earlier if such intelligence existed. Witness B explained that they were looking for evidence meeting the criminal burden of proof, noting that intelligence can be inaccurate and that sources sometimes mislead.
