The bulletproof vest Gerry Adams wore on his way to court in London on Monday morning suggested he wasn’t entirely sure of the welcome he might receive.
He had little to worry about, as it turned out. There wasn’t exactly a sea of fluttering Irish Tricolours at the royal courts of justice. Adams, after all, is no Kneecap rapper.
But there were enough on display to indicate his allies had managed to rouse some local support. That was outside the court. Inside, Adams was on the defensive.
The former Sinn Féin president (77) was in London for the opening of a civil case taken against him by three victims of IRA bombings during the Troubles – John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock.
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They were injured in the Old Bailey bombing of 1973 and the London docklands and Manchester attacks of 1996, respectively.
The claimants are suing Adams for personal injury, seeking £1 in damages. He denies their claims, which include that he was a leading member of the IRA with responsibility for the attacks and, for the 1990s bombings, sat on its army council.
When Adams takes the stand next week, it will be the first time he has been cross-examined in a court in Britain about his alleged IRA links. He has always denied being an IRA member. That will now be tested.
The case was set for 10.30am on Monday morning in the chancellor’s court – court 16 – in the RCJ on the Strand, a 10-minute walk east from Trafalgar Square towards Fleet Street.
Adams, in a three-piece grey suit, arrived at the court 50 minutes early, having taken off the bulletproof vest he was pictured in on his way. He did, however, wear a pin of the flag of Palestine and a matching wristband.
With his inscrutable visage, the former republican leader gave away little during the six hours that followed. Occasionally he scribbled in a blue notebook. He listened intently as his lawyer, Edward Craven, discussed with the judge, Jonathan Swift, how the inner workings of the IRA’s army council might be relevant to the case.
Adams also appeared to raise an eyebrow at some of the ambitious attempts at pronunciation of Irish language names by Anne Studd, barrister for the claimants.
She made a valiant attempt to say the name of former IRA leader Seán Mac Stíofáin (Studd’s try was more like “Mac-stye-fin”). However, her attempts at the trickier Óglaigh na hÉireann (the name of the Irish Army, which the IRA also used) and An Phoblacht (a republican newspaper) wouldn’t have got her many marks in a Leaving Cert oral.
At one point, Studd referred to an article in An Phoblacht in the 1970s that she said was written by Adams under the pseudonym ‘Brownie’. The author of the piece admitted to being in the IRA. Adams, she said, denies writing that particular piece, which he said was actually penned by his then assistant, Richard McAuley.
Studd told the judge that while McAuley hadn’t been called as a witness by the former Sinn Féin leader to back him up, she believed he was present in court. Indeed he was, sitting beside Adams two rows back.
Craven argued there was “no credible evidence” to suggest Adams had anything to do with the Old Bailey, docklands and Manchester attacks. He said that even if the court was convinced Adams was on the IRA army council – which he denied anyway – this still wouldn’t be enough to prove he was responsible for the injuries of the claimants.
Adams argues their claims over the attack 53 and 30 years ago are time-barred.
The case resumes on Tuesday with evidence from the first witness, Ganesh, who lost two friends in the docklands bombing that also gave him post-traumatic stress disorder.
