BBC struggles to accept the truth

The BBC has said it will continue to broadcast its news output into the 26 Counties amid a strong reaction by unionists to the outcome of the Gerry Adams libel trial, which the BBC has so far refused to accept.

Condemning Irish defamation law, the BBC’s director in the Six Counties, Adam Smyth (pictured), has said the implications of the judgement were “profound” and that he “stands by” the decision to defend the libel.

The misleading article still remains online and unmodified, despite the former Sinn Féin President winning a lawsuit against the organisation over the lie that he gave the IRA the “final say” for a deadly attack on high-level Sinn Féin informer Denis Donaldson in 2006.

In an email to staff, Smyth was forced to deny suggestions in the unionist media that it would be “blocking its news” from being viewed in the 26 Counties.

“We will, of course, be making a considered response to the outcome of the case, including what it means in practical terms,” he said. “That is what everyone would expect of the BBC.”

The stalemate suggests further problems for the BBC, which is already under intense pressure over its pro-Israeli coverage of the genocide in Gaza.

The BBC has not apologised for their depiction of Mr Adams as a ‘warmonger’, as he was called by one of their witnesses during the libel trial, but the jury has come in for stinging criticsm from its supporters.

Mick Clifford of the Irish Examiner accused it of serving to “rewrite the past” by finding against the BBC, while Senan Molony in the Irish Independent declared that Sinn Féin “has had the way cleared by a High Court jury to run Gerry Adams, peacemaker, for the Áras [Presidency]”.

A number of unionist politicians backed the suggestion of BBC journalist Jennifer O’Leary that the victims of the conflict had somehow been ‘let down’ by the defamation verdict, and revisited some of the worst days of the past 50 years to try to bolster their argument.

Meanwhile, there was a general outpouring of anti-Irish hate online, with former British newspaper editor Kelvin MacKenzie expressing one of the most over-the-top reactions.

“If you want to see the best of people keep well away from Dublin,” he wrote. “The libel award of £83K to that shit Gerry Adams joins a list of Irish infamy including being neutral in the Second World War and their government sending condolences to the Germans on the death of Hitler. That’s the kind of people they are.”

COVER-UP?

Meanwhile, Denis Donaldson’s family has been left dismayed at the huge publicity and cost involved in the trial, with still no progress toward an actual investigation into the killing. They are also seeking the return Mr Donaldson’s personal effects, including a diary which could shed light on his actions, which Gardai police said they have retained for reasons of ‘privacy’.

A coroner’s inquest has been adjourned repeatedly because of the delaying tactics of the Gardai. Their supposed efforts to investigate the murder were dismissed by the family, who have called for a statutory inquiry.

The Donaldsons want a cross-Border process that would identify not just “who pulled the trigger” but also “who may have pulled the strings,” said family lawyer Enda McGarrity.

“At present, as far as the family are aware, the Garda are focused on the individual or individuals who pulled the trigger and not the broader circumstances around who may have pulled the strings. And that is an issue that is inextricably linked to the murder of Denis Donaldson,” he said.

The family is concerned about how Donaldson came to be exposed as an agent and the “divergence” in what happened to him thereafter, when compared with other well-known state agents, he said.

“The family would say Denis Donaldson was thrown to the wolves while Stakeknife was shepherded away,” said Mr McGarrity, referring to the late Freddie Scappaticci, a senior IRA member who was moved to Britain after he was exposed as an informer.

“The precise format of how the death and circumstances surrounding the death of Denis Donaldson are to be investigated is up for debate and discussion. What the family are saying is that the current status quo, the Garda investigation and the coroner’s inquest, are simply not working,” he said.

The State, he said, has a statutory duty to investigate the death and suggested that a statutory inquiry in the 26 Counties could have cross-Border engagement to “fill any holes” in terms of investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder.

Mr McGarrity said the family considers a claim of responsibility made by the ‘Real IRA’ three years after the murder to be opportunistic and unreliable, and that they had an open mind as to who carried out the murder.

Speaking after the trial verdict, Mr Adams said there is an onus on everyone, including himself, to deal with conflict legacy issues.

He said: “I’m very mindful of the Donaldson family in the course of this long trial, and indeed of the victims’ families who have had to watch all of this.

“I want to say that the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan should meet the family of Denis Donaldson as quickly as possible, and that there’s an onus on both governments and everyone else, and I include myself in this, to try and deal with these legacy issues as best that we can.”

Urgent Appeal