Gerry Adams BBC Libel Case

blueinsa said:
My old man did 3 tours in the early 70’s and it was an unwritten rule that this fucker and a few others were not to be arrested even though they knew of their involvement.

Quite why he feels the need to disavow his membership rather than own it I’ve little idea?

It’s not as if he is going to be ever prosecuted is it?
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Likewise, his brother, who by some accounts is more of a tyrant.
 
blueinsa said:
My old man did 3 tours in the early 70’s and it was an unwritten rule that this fucker and a few others were not to be arrested even though they knew of their involvement.
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To be clear, he was arrested/jailed and interned on separate occasions in the 70s. I believe he later sued for and won compensation. A colorful character.
 
Postman Pep said:
I mean it's hardly a mystery is it? Not like this stuff has been in the public domain for years.

BBC NEWS | UK | Adams and IRA's secret Whitehall talks

news.bbc.co.uk
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Very interesting article. Particularly the quotations in yellow.

Nobody who hasn’t lived under a rock could deny Adam’s involvement in the IRA and his place during the Troubles.
He was a significant player.

The thing about the libel case however is like I said earlier. The crux of the case was the BBC stating without evidence that he ordered the killing of one of his friends as an informer.

Think of the man what you will and I’m sure you’d be justified in your opinion, but this is what he won. BBC claiming fact on an undisclosed anonymous source.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
Very interesting article. Particularly the quotations in yellow.

Nobody who hasn’t lived under a rock could deny Adam’s involvement in the IRA and his place during the Troubles.
He was a significant player.

The thing about the libel case however is like I said earlier. The crux of the case was the BBC stating without evidence that he ordered the killing of one of his friends as an informer.

Think of the man what you will and I’m sure you’d be justified in your opinion, but this is what he won. BBC claiming fact on an undisclosed anonymous source.
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The fact he decided to sue just tells us what kind of man he is and how he has no regrets about his actions. He will have gotten away with plenty of stuff that would have seen someone in prison or worse. Brass neck on the fucker.
 
hilts said:
The fact he decided to sue just tells us what kind of man he is and how he has no regrets about his actions. He will have gotten away with plenty of stuff that would have seen someone in prison or worse. Brass neck on the fucker.
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This may seem random or unrelated but I try explaining it to my son who is 23 this year.
He hasn’t but would have no qualms about voting for Sinn Fein here in the Republic, as he doesn’t have the same memory or bias that I and my generation have.
None of my friends or even work colleagues that I’ve spoken with would contemplate it.
The modern generation don have that hang up though.
To them, The Troubles is ancient history.
As relevant as the 1916 rising, which was something you only see referred to in the history books. They’ve no concept of the relevance to where they are now.

It’s like me, born 18 years after the end of WWII putting no relevance on it, to my life, although most of Britain and British people would have had it fresh in their memory and of course my own parents lived through it here.

Anyway. Adam’s has his place in history and his story good, bad or indifferent will objectively be told.

I always had more respect for the likes of John Hume or even Seamus Mallon.
And let no one forget Mo Mowlam and the tireless work she put in although terribly ill.

I always found Ian Paisley to be a malignant force for division and yet he was brought to the table and the abiding image in a lot of people’s mind is that of the chuckle brothers, him and Martin McGuinness after the GFA.

People personal experiences of the times will always colour their opinions of any of the protagonists. We won’t change our minds willingly on who or what they are.
 
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blueinsa said:
My old man did 3 tours in the early 70’s and it was an unwritten rule that this fucker and a few others were not to be arrested even though they knew of their involvement.

Quite why he feels the need to disavow his membership rather than own it I’ve little idea?

It’s not as if he is going to be ever prosecuted is it?
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Paddy Ashdown told a story of when he was posted to NI and he was told who the IRA leaders were, so he walked down one very Republican street on his own in full uniform and knocked on one of their doors just for a chat
Ashdown's CO went absolutely mental when he found out
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
This may seem random or unrelated but I try explaining it to my son who is 23 this year.
He hasn’t but would have no qualms about voting for Sinn Fein here in the Republic, as he doesn’t have the same memory or bias that I and my generation have.
None of my friends or even work colleagues that I’ve spoken with would contemplate it.
The modern generation don have that hang up though.
To them, The Troubles is ancient history.
As relevant as the 1916 rising, which was something you only see referred to in the history books. They’ve no concept of the relevance to where they are now.

It’s like me, born 18 years after the end of WWII putting no relevance on it, to my life, although most of Britain and British people would have had it fresh in their memory and of course my own parents lived through it here.

Anyway. Adam’s has his place in history and his story good, bad or indifferent will objectively be told.

I always had more respect for the likes of John Hume or even Seamus Mallon.
And let no one forget Mo Mowlam and the tireless work she put in although terribly ill.

I always found Ian Paisley to be a malignant force for division and yet he was brought to the table and the abiding image in a lot of people’s mind is that of the chuckle brothers, him and Martin McGuinness after the GFA.

People personal experiences of the times will always colour their opinions of any of the protagonists. We won’t change our minds willingly on who or what they are.
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No time for Paisley either and there was wickedness everywhere. Its good to try and draw a line under things the world has suffered too much from injustices carried over from previous generations but I just get a tad irked at descriptions of people like him as being charming or his story could be good in anyway.

Like a prisoner getting compo in a prison its a tad gut wrenching a few million quid is coming his way. The irony of him getting paid because someone said he did something bad is a tad rich. Its the respectability being put on them. I was hoping that some would quietly step away from politics and the limelight.

Anyhow nowt can be done about it I'm just glad the youngsters in Ireland can hopefully live a more peaceful life.
 
hilts said:
No time for Paisley either and there was wickedness everywhere. Its good to try and draw a line under things the world has suffered too much from injustices carried over from previous generations but I just get a tad irked at descriptions of people like him as being charming or his story could be good in anyway.

Like a prisoner getting compo in a prison its a tad gut wrenching a few million quid is coming his way. The irony of him getting paid because someone said he did something bad is a tad rich. Its the respectability being put on them. I was hoping that some would quietly step away from politics and the limelight.

Anyhow nowt can be done about it I'm just glad the youngsters in Ireland can hopefully live a more peaceful life.
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Just to be clear @hilts I wasn’t claiming he is a charming man in any way. I was more pointing out his behaviour through the hearing.
He’s well experienced in how to negotiate (sidestep) difficult situations. No matter what we think of the man, he has political nouse at the end of the day.
My colleagues who were present, were begrudgingly impressed with how he conducted himself, separating opposing counsel’s duty from personal animosity you could say.

I agree however. He is what he is, but the past is the past.
I know the future is something I had a chance to vote on. I’ve said it in here many times. I knew what I was voting for, I knew the consequences for both sides.
There’s still a ton of stuff I’d love to see changed, but what we have is a lot better than what we had.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
Just to be clear @hilts I wasn’t claiming he is a charming man in any way. I was more pointing out his behaviour through the hearing.
He’s well experienced in how to negotiate (sidestep) difficult situations. No matter what we think of the man, he has political nouse at the end of the day.
My colleagues who were present, were begrudgingly impressed with how he conducted himself, separating opposing counsel’s duty from personal animosity you could say.

I agree however. He is what he is, but the past is the past.
I know the future is something I had a chance to vote on. I’ve said it in here many times. I knew what I was voting for, I knew the consequences for both sides.
There’s still a ton of stuff I’d love to see changed, but what we have is a lot better than what we had.
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Sorry it was probably my bad way of expressing myself, I never actually thought you were impressed with his charm or had a good story to tell about his time during the troubles.
Basically it just grates hearing these descriptions and the Bruce bonus coming his way.

My apologies.
 
hilts said:
Sorry it was probably my bad way of expressing myself, I never actually thought you were impressed with his charm or had a good story to tell about his time during the troubles.
Basically it just grates hearing these descriptions and the Bruce bonus coming his way.

My apologies.
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He won his expenses and was awarded €100,000, which he has stated he will give to charity. Make of that what you will.

The ultimate cost to the BBC will be circa €2.5 million they reckon.
 
hilts said:
The fact he decided to sue just tells us what kind of man he is and how he has no regrets about his actions. He will have gotten away with plenty of stuff that would have seen someone in prison or worse. Brass neck on the fucker.
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I don't think this was about "clearing his name" or even about the money.
They wanted to find out who was talking.
 
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