Picture Gerry Adams in a dimly lit courtroom, one hand raised in statesmanlike denial, the other twitching like Dr. Strangelove’s infamous Nazi salute, struggling to contain the contradictions of his many roles. Peacemaker? Politician? Bearded bard? Or something darker, as my late father always insisted: the architect of republican violence, a figurehead for the IRA and Sinn Féin, like ‘two cheeks of the same arse’, to borrow George Galloway’s colourful phrase? Adams has always denied involvement with the IRA.

Starting today, Adams will face a civil trial in London’s High Court accusing him of IRA membership and involvement in bombings that scarred innocents between the 1970s and 1990s. This could be Adams’s last chance to fully confront the past. But if history is any guide, expect more elevated language, vanity, and evasion from the man who has allowed supporters to compare him, with a straight face, to Nelson Mandela.

I predict Adams will play the persecuted plot victim and tout his peace credentials

I predict Adams will play the persecuted plot victim and tout his peace credentials

Mandela endured 27 years in prison, emerging to unite a nation through truth and reconciliation. Adams? He’s the eternal enigma, spinning tales of Irish freedom while dodging the sordid details. This trial centres on three ordinary, brave Brits: John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh, and Barry Laycock, who suffered devastating losses in the Old Bailey bombing of 1973, the Docklands bombing of 1996, and the Manchester Arndale bombing of 1996. They’re seeking accountability according to the civil standard of being on the balance of probability. They are asking for symbolic damages of just £1 for their vindication, where evidence from the grave might finally outweigh republican rhetoric. Adams denies the claim and will be giving evidence in his defence at the trial.

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In a newspaper column written earlier this month, Adams drips with apparent empathy for these ‘poor ordinary victims’, claiming they’ve been manipulated by ‘shadowy figures’. As he puts it:

I offer no criticism of the claimants, but those people who support this case from the shadows are wedded to the past and unable to accept the new reality of our island moving towards self-determination and unity.

I offer no criticism of the claimants, but those people who support this........

© The Spectator