THE SUNDAY Worldnewspaper has apologised before the High Court to Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly over false allegations made against him in articles published 15 years ago.
The newspaper also said it “accepts that Mr Kelly has played an important part in ending the violence in Northern Ireland and made a positive and significant contribution to the peace process”.
Mr Kelly had sued Sunday Newspapers Ltd, publishers of the Sunday World, over two articles published on different dates in 1996.
When the case came before Mr Justice Eamon de Valera yesterday, he was told it had been settled on terms including an apology on behalf of the newspaper being read in court.
The North Belfast MLA also received an undisclosed sum under the settlement.
In the apology, read by Oisin Quinn SC, for the newspaper, it was stated that the first article complained of, published on February 25th, 1996, had wrongly stated that Mr Kelly was the chief of staff of the IRA and had responsibility for ending the IRA ceasefire in February 1996.
The apology said the second article, published on December 1st, 1996, also wrongly suggested that Mr Kelly had a liaison with a US diplomat, Martha Pope, for ulterior motives.
Ms Pope was the chief aide to US senator George Mitchell during his time as the United States special envoy for Northern Ireland.
The newspaper acknowledged that both articles were “wrong” and “apologises to Gerry Kelly for the upset that the articles caused”.