Questions for Mr Adams
Questions are being asked about the integrity and principles of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, arising from the sexual abuse of his niece by his brother and the abduction and murder of mother of ten Jean McConville, in Belfast in 1972. The events may be 25 or more years in the past, but their reverberations undermine the party’s demands for high standards of transparency and accountability in public life.
During the week, a new television programme on “the disappeared” saw Mr Adams denying any involvement in the abduction and murder of Mrs McConville. It was of a piece with his disclaimers of Provisional IRA membership and of being Belfast commander, even when disillusioned colleagues implicated him in her death. Whatever about past IRA activities, the Sinn Féin leader’s failure for many years to report the sexual abuse of a young girl will find few apologists. The abuser was, indeed, his brother. But the allegation, brought to his attention in 1987, was acknowledged as true in 2000. Nine years were to pass before Mr Adams went to the police with this information, though he had earlier called on republicans to accept and support the PSNI. Last month, Liam Adams was found guilty of the rape and sexual abuse of his daughter.