SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has appealed for privacy from the media following his family’s statement that his father, Gerry Adams snr, who died six years ago, had carried out “devastating” abuse against members of his large family.
In yesterday’s interview with RTÉ’s Tommie Gorman, the West Belfast MP said he had wanted to bring his late father’s abuse into the public domain before now, adding that he had to wait until his brothers and sisters agreed.
Mr Adams said the abuse committed was “physical, emotional, psychological and sexual” in nature and was carried out against an unnamed member or members of his family.
“I myself for a long time wanted this to be publicised because there is a culture of concealment, but we can only do this when everybody is strong enough to do it.” Mr Adams also said the sole reason for going public was to assist his family.
“We don’t do it for any other reason than as a necessary step in the healing process within our own clan,” he said. “And also for other families who are in the same predicament or individuals who just feel this is the end of the world.
“It obviously tests your faith in humanity when an iconic figure like my father engages in the psychological and emotional and physical and sexual abuse of a child, of his child, but with attention, with understanding, with resolve and with love we can find our way through all of this.”
He said the discovery more than 10 years ago of his father's abuse came about in the course of trying to deal with revelations made in a UTV programme last week. Insightreported that his brother, Liam, had abused his daughter Áine, a niece of the Sinn Féin president.
An unnamed family member had told him, in the context of dealing with the abuse against Mr Adams’s niece, that Gerry Adams snr was also an abuser and that he or she had been a victim.
“I was almost 50 years old and, up until that point, I thought we were like any other family with a loving father.” The news came as a deep shock, he said.
His father’s abuse was “historic”, he said.
“Those who were abused did not want to go to the police about it. So, in a very difficult way, with everybody coming at this at different speeds and from different perspectives, we have, with the assistance of professionals and the assistance of other family members and friends, we have been able to survive it.”
Mr Adams said he and his siblings had discussed the issue among themselves before he went to confront his father with the allegation of abuse.
“He was in denial for quite a lot of that time,” Mr Adams recalled. “This was a man who had a very large family, there were 13 of us. Ten survived, three died at birth or shortly after. He ended up dying a lonely old man where he should have been surrounded by loving family members.”
Mr Adams said his father’s republican funeral in 2003 and the placing of a Tricolour on his coffin to mark his own years as a republican activist present a particular dilemma. “I didn’t want him buried with the Tricolour, I think he besmirched it. But it was a dilemma for other members of my family who didn’t want this in the open at that time.
“Had he not been buried as a former republican activist in the 30s and a former prisoner, this would have drawn attention that there was something wrong.”
He said decisions regarding his father’s funeral were taken because “you have to look after the living, as opposed to the dead”.
He said he always felt the news about his father’s actions would come out “at some time”.
“For me, one of the big questions for me is, why didn’t I notice it?”
Statement by Gerry Adams on behalf of the Adams family.
I am issuing this statement on my own behalf and on behalf of my brothers and sisters.
In the late 1990s, we discovered that our father had been sexually, emotionally and physically abusing members of our family.
This abuse happened over many years. This discovery and the abuse which preceded it have had a devastating impact on our entire family.
We are still struggling to come to terms with what happened. We live with the consequences every single day. We have been dealing with this with the support of a number of professionals who have the expertise to deal with these matters. We thank them for their help.
Abuse of any kind is horrendous but sexual abuse, particularly of a child, is indescribably wounding and heartbreaking. Our family have debated for some time whether we should publicise our father's abusive behaviour.
We do so now in the hope that in time, this will assist the victims and survivors to come to terms with what happened and help them to move on from these dreadful events.
All citizens need to be educated and children need to be listened to, empowered and protected.
Many people in other families have suffered from abuse. Our family knows how deeply hurtful and traumatic that can be. No one should have to deal with abuse or its consequences in isolation.
Victims of abuse in our family are still, years later, recovering from the trauma inflicted on us.
Our prayer is that everyone will be healed. Most of us have grown in strength with the help of other family members, partners and friends. We know this will continue. Our family are united. We believe that there is a way out of this awfulness.
We hope this knowledge can be of some help to other families who are in the same situation. Anyone affected by these issues should contact the Samaritans or any appropriate agency.
We would ask the media to give us some privacy, particularly over this Christmas period.