Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[Nally Stand]

Very good but this time could you read my questions first and then reply?

[glens abu]

Glad to see they have their priorities right, running after dissidents while the executive crumbles and the DUP expose them as fools.

So they should ignore internment without trial? Oh wait, you don't see it as internment without trial, you call it...what was it again...."illegal detention"?

call it what you like it may be , and I say may be an illegal detention but internment it ain't.

Still waiting on you to explain the difference there.

While I wait on the difference to be explained to me, and we go by your makey-uppy term of "illegal detention", could you tell me what is the problem with an elected representative coming out against a citizen being detailed illegally? Is it that you condone the state acting illegally or is it that you don't believe elected representatives should be allowed to challenge illegal behaviour by the state?

Not really my fault if you don't understand or agree with my position. I disagree with yours as is my right. It will also be my right as a voter to ignore elections until the Shinners and the Stoops get their act together. When push comes to shove all shades of unionism/loyalism pull together...what do we do? as the saying goes the first item on every nationalist agenda is the split.
[/quot
[/email] How ironic from the man who crys continually about the two parties differences and then says he will not vote.Every post you either complain about the Shinners or the Stoops,ffs away and join the Alliance party and give all our heads peace.

[Feckitt]

I don't know how to post pictures here, but this past few weeks in particular, Mary Lou McDonald is an awful funny colour.

[lawnseed]

I don't know how to post pictures here, but this past few weeks in particular, Mary Lou McDonald is an awful funny colour.

orange..?

[Maguire01]

When push comes to shove all shades of unionism/loyalism pull together...what do we do?

Yes, and look at the state of unionism/loyalism. You really think that's a template for nationalism?

[glens abu]

Remembering Sheena Campbell
On 16 October 1992, a young mother was shot dead in the York Hotel on Botanic Avenue in Belfast.

The killing was carried out by a lone UVF assassin, who had strolled casually into the hotel bar, his face covered by a scarf, a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked around the room before calmly walking over to a table where three young people were sitting talking, unaware of his approach.

He produced an automatic machine pistol and fired it at 29-year-old Sheena Campbell, striking her several times in the chest and throat.

Sheena fell to the ground, mortally wounded. The gunman fired a final shot into her head before turning his attention to the two friends who had been sitting with her, injuring both, though not seriously. He then made good his escape, disappearing into a waiting blue Ford Fiesta, later found abandoned in the unionist Sandy Row area.

It was a calculated and precise act. Sheena Campbell was dead only a month before her 30th birthday.

Sheena was not shot simply because she was a Catholic - although that might have been reason enough for those who sent the trigger man that day. Nor was she shot by chance, a twist of fate having placed her in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.

The reality was that Sheena Campbell was a formidable opponent, a determined Sinn Féin activist of unsurpassed skill and tenacity, and a woman who consistently managed to do the impossible. The people responsible for her death didn't just want to kill someone. They wanted to kill Sheena Campbell. And it is very unlikely that the UVF acted without the assistance of state forces.

Two years earlier, in November of 1990, Sinn Féin had found itself in the midst of a crucial by-election in the Torrent ward of Dungannon, County Tyrone. The poll had been called after former Sinn Féin Councillor and IRA Volunteer Martin McCaughey was debarred from Dungannon District Council for non-attendance of meetings. McCaughey was shot dead by the SAS a short time later in a shoot-to-kill stakeout.

The SDLP already held two seats in the district, unionists held a third, and all were desperate to thwart the return of a Sinn Féin candidate. The SDLP even canvassed unionist voters for second preferences in an attempt to "keep Sinn Féin out".

Against this backdrop of concentrated abuse by political opponents and lethal intimidation by state forces, it was decided that Francie Molloy should be the person to contest the seat on behalf of Sinn Féin. The monumental task might have seemed laughable had Sheena Campbell not been put in charge.

"Martin McCaughey had just been murdered by the SAS," recalls Molloy, "and people were feeling very low. There was a real air of depression. The campaign was moving very slowly and I was asked what I thought might help. I said, 'Give me someone like Sheena Campbell'.

"So they did. Sheena came in and took charge. She not only provided good management, her presence also freed me up so I could actively campaign myself."

In organising Molloy's campaign, Sheena restructured Sinn Féin's entire approach towards elections and election canvassing.

Before long, she had everyone working together professionally, in a methodical and systematic approach. She planned everybody's timetable in detail, helping workers to record their findings and complete their tasks effectively by breaking the work down into small, manageable batches. This enabled people to remain focused without feeling overwhelmed by the size of their assignments and to foster friendly competition between election workers, with each striving to account for their batch of ballots.

More importantly, it also allowed Sinn Féin to target, fight, and account for each and every available vote.

"She made people feel a part of things," says Molloy. "She brought them along with her and although she led by example, she always saw herself as one of the group. She was a constant inspiration."

Sheena's plan later became known as the Torrent strategy, and it changed the way Sinn Féin approached election work forever. The system is still in use today, a lasting legacy of Sheena's insight, commitment and discipline.

The Torrent by-election was a close and hard-fought contest. When the results were finally returned, Francie Molloy emerged victorious by only six votes.

"It was incredible," says Molloy, "and everybody could claim those six votes. If someone had managed to get a family who didn't usually vote out to the polling station, or if another had registered a few new voters, they could honestly say that their efforts had made the difference. That was what Sheena Campbell could inspire. I was glad we had done it. We had proved the new system worked and that the people of Tyrone would still return a Sinn Féin vote after Martin's death."

Sheena's own death, in the lounge of the York Hotel just a few years later, came just as she was beginning her legal studies at the Law faculty of Queen's University.

She was the first student from Newry to be accepted into the faculty and had even been told by the Career Guidance people at the university that she "hadn't a hope" of being accepted. But as usual, she had beaten the odds.

The teaching staff at Queen's described her as "a brilliant student, with tremendous academic ability" but Sheena was not interested in financial gain as a result of her studies. She believed that law was meant to benefit humanity.

"She encouraged and pushed without seeming to do so," says her partner Brendan Curran, "and was always there when needed. She could jump up on a chair at the sight of a mouse and then go out and take on a Land Rover full of RUC who were harassing someone she didn't even know. Her greatest strength was her love of life and people."

Last year, in a commemorative booklet marking the tenth anniversary of her killing, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams noted that Sheena Campbell remains deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

"Sheena was cheerful, positive and outgoing," wrote Adams. "She was very articulate in promoting republican politics, and she was very effective. It was she who turned our electoral theory into practice.

"I have no doubt that, had she not been killed on that dark day in the autumn of 1992, she would have been one of the prominent leaders of our party. Her contribution to our struggle was immense. She was an activist's activist.

"She was young. She was a woman. She had skills and an abundance of talent. She was the future. That is why she was killed. They feared Sheena because they fear the future."

[LeoMc]

Remembering Sheena Campbell
On 16 October 1992, a young mother was shot dead in the York Hotel on Botanic Avenue in Belfast.

The killing was carried out by a lone UVF assassin, who had strolled casually into the hotel bar, his face covered by a scarf, a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked around the room before calmly walking over to a table where three young people were sitting talking, unaware of his approach.

He produced an automatic machine pistol and fired it at 29-year-old Sheena Campbell, striking her several times in the chest and throat.

Sheena fell to the ground, mortally wounded. The gunman fired a final shot into her head before turning his attention to the two friends who had been sitting with her, injuring both, though not seriously. He then made good his escape, disappearing into a waiting blue Ford Fiesta, later found abandoned in the unionist Sandy Row area.

It was a calculated and precise act. Sheena Campbell was dead only a month before her 30th birthday.

Sheena was not shot simply because she was a Catholic - although that might have been reason enough for those who sent the trigger man that day. Nor was she shot by chance, a twist of fate having placed her in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.

The reality was that Sheena Campbell was a formidable opponent, a determined Sinn Féin activist of unsurpassed skill and tenacity, and a woman who consistently managed to do the impossible. The people responsible for her death didn't just want to kill someone. They wanted to kill Sheena Campbell. And it is very unlikely that the UVF acted without the assistance of state forces.

Two years earlier, in November of 1990, Sinn Féin had found itself in the midst of a crucial by-election in the Torrent ward of Dungannon, County Tyrone. The poll had been called after former Sinn Féin Councillor and IRA Volunteer Martin McCaughey was debarred from Dungannon District Council for non-attendance of meetings. McCaughey was shot dead by the SAS a short time later in a shoot-to-kill stakeout.

The SDLP already held two seats in the district, unionists held a third, and all were desperate to thwart the return of a Sinn Féin candidate. The SDLP even canvassed unionist voters for second preferences in an attempt to "keep Sinn Féin out".

Against this backdrop of concentrated abuse by political opponents and lethal intimidation by state forces, it was decided that Francie Molloy should be the person to contest the seat on behalf of Sinn Féin. The monumental task might have seemed laughable had Sheena Campbell not been put in charge.

"Martin McCaughey had just been murdered by the SAS," recalls Molloy, "and people were feeling very low. There was a real air of depression. The campaign was moving very slowly and I was asked what I thought might help. I said, 'Give me someone like Sheena Campbell'.

"So they did. Sheena came in and took charge. She not only provided good management, her presence also freed me up so I could actively campaign myself."

In organising Molloy's campaign, Sheena restructured Sinn Féin's entire approach towards elections and election canvassing.

Before long, she had everyone working together professionally, in a methodical and systematic approach. She planned everybody's timetable in detail, helping workers to record their findings and complete their tasks effectively by breaking the work down into small, manageable batches. This enabled people to remain focused without feeling overwhelmed by the size of their assignments and to foster friendly competition between election workers, with each striving to account for their batch of ballots.

More importantly, it also allowed Sinn Féin to target, fight, and account for each and every available vote.

"She made people feel a part of things," says Molloy. "She brought them along with her and although she led by example, she always saw herself as one of the group. She was a constant inspiration."

Sheena's plan later became known as the Torrent strategy, and it changed the way Sinn Féin approached election work forever. The system is still in use today, a lasting legacy of Sheena's insight, commitment and discipline.

The Torrent by-election was a close and hard-fought contest. When the results were finally returned, Francie Molloy emerged victorious by only six votes.

"It was incredible," says Molloy, "and everybody could claim those six votes. If someone had managed to get a family who didn't usually vote out to the polling station, or if another had registered a few new voters, they could honestly say that their efforts had made the difference. That was what Sheena Campbell could inspire. I was glad we had done it. We had proved the new system worked and that the people of Tyrone would still return a Sinn Féin vote after Martin's death."

Sheena's own death, in the lounge of the York Hotel just a few years later, came just as she was beginning her legal studies at the Law faculty of Queen's University.

She was the first student from Newry to be accepted into the faculty and had even been told by the Career Guidance people at the university that she "hadn't a hope" of being accepted. But as usual, she had beaten the odds.

The teaching staff at Queen's described her as "a brilliant student, with tremendous academic ability" but Sheena was not interested in financial gain as a result of her studies. She believed that law was meant to benefit humanity.

"She encouraged and pushed without seeming to do so," says her partner Brendan Curran, "and was always there when needed. She could jump up on a chair at the sight of a mouse and then go out and take on a Land Rover full of RUC who were harassing someone she didn't even know. Her greatest strength was her love of life and people."

Last year, in a commemorative booklet marking the tenth anniversary of her killing, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams noted that Sheena Campbell remains deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

"Sheena was cheerful, positive and outgoing," wrote Adams. "She was very articulate in promoting republican politics, and she was very effective. It was she who turned our electoral theory into practice.

"I have no doubt that, had she not been killed on that dark day in the autumn of 1992, she would have been one of the prominent leaders of our party. Her contribution to our struggle was immense. She was an activist's activist.

"She was young. She was a woman. She had skills and an abundance of talent. She was the future. That is why she was killed. They feared Sheena because they fear the future."

Hard to believe that was 21 years ago.

[Maguire01]

Remembering Sheena Campbell
On 16 October 1992, a young mother was shot dead in the York Hotel on Botanic Avenue in Belfast.

The killing was carried out by a lone UVF assassin, who had strolled casually into the hotel bar, his face covered by a scarf, a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked around the room before calmly walking over to a table where three young people were sitting talking, unaware of his approach.

He produced an automatic machine pistol and fired it at 29-year-old Sheena Campbell, striking her several times in the chest and throat.

Sheena fell to the ground, mortally wounded. The gunman fired a final shot into her head before turning his attention to the two friends who had been sitting with her, injuring both, though not seriously. He then made good his escape, disappearing into a waiting blue Ford Fiesta, later found abandoned in the unionist Sandy Row area.

It was a calculated and precise act. Sheena Campbell was dead only a month before her 30th birthday.

Sheena was not shot simply because she was a Catholic - although that might have been reason enough for those who sent the trigger man that day. Nor was she shot by chance, a twist of fate having placed her in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.

The reality was that Sheena Campbell was a formidable opponent, a determined Sinn Féin activist of unsurpassed skill and tenacity, and a woman who consistently managed to do the impossible. The people responsible for her death didn't just want to kill someone. They wanted to kill Sheena Campbell. And it is very unlikely that the UVF acted without the assistance of state forces.

Two years earlier, in November of 1990, Sinn Féin had found itself in the midst of a crucial by-election in the Torrent ward of Dungannon, County Tyrone. The poll had been called after former Sinn Féin Councillor and IRA Volunteer Martin McCaughey was debarred from Dungannon District Council for non-attendance of meetings. McCaughey was shot dead by the SAS a short time later in a shoot-to-kill stakeout.

The SDLP already held two seats in the district, unionists held a third, and all were desperate to thwart the return of a Sinn Féin candidate. The SDLP even canvassed unionist voters for second preferences in an attempt to "keep Sinn Féin out".

Against this backdrop of concentrated abuse by political opponents and lethal intimidation by state forces, it was decided that Francie Molloy should be the person to contest the seat on behalf of Sinn Féin. The monumental task might have seemed laughable had Sheena Campbell not been put in charge.

"Martin McCaughey had just been murdered by the SAS," recalls Molloy, "and people were feeling very low. There was a real air of depression. The campaign was moving very slowly and I was asked what I thought might help. I said, 'Give me someone like Sheena Campbell'.

"So they did. Sheena came in and took charge. She not only provided good management, her presence also freed me up so I could actively campaign myself."

In organising Molloy's campaign, Sheena restructured Sinn Féin's entire approach towards elections and election canvassing.

Before long, she had everyone working together professionally, in a methodical and systematic approach. She planned everybody's timetable in detail, helping workers to record their findings and complete their tasks effectively by breaking the work down into small, manageable batches. This enabled people to remain focused without feeling overwhelmed by the size of their assignments and to foster friendly competition between election workers, with each striving to account for their batch of ballots.

More importantly, it also allowed Sinn Féin to target, fight, and account for each and every available vote.

"She made people feel a part of things," says Molloy. "She brought them along with her and although she led by example, she always saw herself as one of the group. She was a constant inspiration."

Sheena's plan later became known as the Torrent strategy, and it changed the way Sinn Féin approached election work forever. The system is still in use today, a lasting legacy of Sheena's insight, commitment and discipline.

The Torrent by-election was a close and hard-fought contest. When the results were finally returned, Francie Molloy emerged victorious by only six votes.

"It was incredible," says Molloy, "and everybody could claim those six votes. If someone had managed to get a family who didn't usually vote out to the polling station, or if another had registered a few new voters, they could honestly say that their efforts had made the difference. That was what Sheena Campbell could inspire. I was glad we had done it. We had proved the new system worked and that the people of Tyrone would still return a Sinn Féin vote after Martin's death."

Sheena's own death, in the lounge of the York Hotel just a few years later, came just as she was beginning her legal studies at the Law faculty of Queen's University.

She was the first student from Newry to be accepted into the faculty and had even been told by the Career Guidance people at the university that she "hadn't a hope" of being accepted. But as usual, she had beaten the odds.

The teaching staff at Queen's described her as "a brilliant student, with tremendous academic ability" but Sheena was not interested in financial gain as a result of her studies. She believed that law was meant to benefit humanity.

"She encouraged and pushed without seeming to do so," says her partner Brendan Curran, "and was always there when needed. She could jump up on a chair at the sight of a mouse and then go out and take on a Land Rover full of RUC who were harassing someone she didn't even know. Her greatest strength was her love of life and people."

Last year, in a commemorative booklet marking the tenth anniversary of her killing, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams noted that Sheena Campbell remains deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

"Sheena was cheerful, positive and outgoing," wrote Adams. "She was very articulate in promoting republican politics, and she was very effective. It was she who turned our electoral theory into practice.

"I have no doubt that, had she not been killed on that dark day in the autumn of 1992, she would have been one of the prominent leaders of our party. Her contribution to our struggle was immense. She was an activist's activist.

"She was young. She was a woman. She had skills and an abundance of talent. She was the future. That is why she was killed. They feared Sheena because they fear the future."

Hard to believe that was 21 years ago.

Very hard for some, apparently.

[glens abu]

Remembering Sheena Campbell
On 16 October 1992, a young mother was shot dead in the York Hotel on Botanic Avenue in Belfast.

The killing was carried out by a lone UVF assassin, who had strolled casually into the hotel bar, his face covered by a scarf, a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked around the room before calmly walking over to a table where three young people were sitting talking, unaware of his approach.

He produced an automatic machine pistol and fired it at 29-year-old Sheena Campbell, striking her several times in the chest and throat.

Sheena fell to the ground, mortally wounded. The gunman fired a final shot into her head before turning his attention to the two friends who had been sitting with her, injuring both, though not seriously. He then made good his escape, disappearing into a waiting blue Ford Fiesta, later found abandoned in the unionist Sandy Row area.

It was a calculated and precise act. Sheena Campbell was dead only a month before her 30th birthday.

Sheena was not shot simply because she was a Catholic - although that might have been reason enough for those who sent the trigger man that day. Nor was she shot by chance, a twist of fate having placed her in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.

The reality was that Sheena Campbell was a formidable opponent, a determined Sinn Féin activist of unsurpassed skill and tenacity, and a woman who consistently managed to do the impossible. The people responsible for her death didn't just want to kill someone. They wanted to kill Sheena Campbell. And it is very unlikely that the UVF acted without the assistance of state forces.

Two years earlier, in November of 1990, Sinn Féin had found itself in the midst of a crucial by-election in the Torrent ward of Dungannon, County Tyrone. The poll had been called after former Sinn Féin Councillor and IRA Volunteer Martin McCaughey was debarred from Dungannon District Council for non-attendance of meetings. McCaughey was shot dead by the SAS a short time later in a shoot-to-kill stakeout.

The SDLP already held two seats in the district, unionists held a third, and all were desperate to thwart the return of a Sinn Féin candidate. The SDLP even canvassed unionist voters for second preferences in an attempt to "keep Sinn Féin out".

Against this backdrop of concentrated abuse by political opponents and lethal intimidation by state forces, it was decided that Francie Molloy should be the person to contest the seat on behalf of Sinn Féin. The monumental task might have seemed laughable had Sheena Campbell not been put in charge.

"Martin McCaughey had just been murdered by the SAS," recalls Molloy, "and people were feeling very low. There was a real air of depression. The campaign was moving very slowly and I was asked what I thought might help. I said, 'Give me someone like Sheena Campbell'.

"So they did. Sheena came in and took charge. She not only provided good management, her presence also freed me up so I could actively campaign myself."

In organising Molloy's campaign, Sheena restructured Sinn Féin's entire approach towards elections and election canvassing.

Before long, she had everyone working together professionally, in a methodical and systematic approach. She planned everybody's timetable in detail, helping workers to record their findings and complete their tasks effectively by breaking the work down into small, manageable batches. This enabled people to remain focused without feeling overwhelmed by the size of their assignments and to foster friendly competition between election workers, with each striving to account for their batch of ballots.

More importantly, it also allowed Sinn Féin to target, fight, and account for each and every available vote.

"She made people feel a part of things," says Molloy. "She brought them along with her and although she led by example, she always saw herself as one of the group. She was a constant inspiration."

Sheena's plan later became known as the Torrent strategy, and it changed the way Sinn Féin approached election work forever. The system is still in use today, a lasting legacy of Sheena's insight, commitment and discipline.

The Torrent by-election was a close and hard-fought contest. When the results were finally returned, Francie Molloy emerged victorious by only six votes.

"It was incredible," says Molloy, "and everybody could claim those six votes. If someone had managed to get a family who didn't usually vote out to the polling station, or if another had registered a few new voters, they could honestly say that their efforts had made the difference. That was what Sheena Campbell could inspire. I was glad we had done it. We had proved the new system worked and that the people of Tyrone would still return a Sinn Féin vote after Martin's death."

Sheena's own death, in the lounge of the York Hotel just a few years later, came just as she was beginning her legal studies at the Law faculty of Queen's University.

She was the first student from Newry to be accepted into the faculty and had even been told by the Career Guidance people at the university that she "hadn't a hope" of being accepted. But as usual, she had beaten the odds.

The teaching staff at Queen's described her as "a brilliant student, with tremendous academic ability" but Sheena was not interested in financial gain as a result of her studies. She believed that law was meant to benefit humanity.

"She encouraged and pushed without seeming to do so," says her partner Brendan Curran, "and was always there when needed. She could jump up on a chair at the sight of a mouse and then go out and take on a Land Rover full of RUC who were harassing someone she didn't even know. Her greatest strength was her love of life and people."

Last year, in a commemorative booklet marking the tenth anniversary of her killing, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams noted that Sheena Campbell remains deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

"Sheena was cheerful, positive and outgoing," wrote Adams. "She was very articulate in promoting republican politics, and she was very effective. It was she who turned our electoral theory into practice.

"I have no doubt that, had she not been killed on that dark day in the autumn of 1992, she would have been one of the prominent leaders of our party. Her contribution to our struggle was immense. She was an activist's activist.

"She was young. She was a woman. She had skills and an abundance of talent. She was the future. That is why she was killed. They feared Sheena because they fear the future."

Hard to believe that was 21 years ago.

Yes is indeed Leo,a vigal  by young Republicans was held tonight at Queens.

[Leo]

Hard to stomach a Sinn Fein TD in the Dail today accusing the government of condeming young Irish people to exile (because of the reduced rate of dole money for school leavers). The only group I know actively engaaged in exileing young people from their homes and communities in recent years were - ehm - the Provos. Double speak hasn't gone away you know ( as Gerry, with very personal experience, might say)

[glens abu]

Hard to stomach a Sinn Fein TD in the Dail today accusing the government of condeming young Irish people to exile (because of the reduced rate of dole money for school leavers). The only group I know actively engaaged in exileing young people from their homes and communities in recent years were - ehm - the Provos. Double speak hasn't gone away you know ( as Gerry, with very personal experience, might say)

You need to wake up and smell the coffee then,as the Provos haven't existed or a long time.

[charlieTully]

I never realised Sheena Campbell was from Newry, thought she was from Craigavon.

[LeoMc]

I never realised Sheena Campbell was from Newry, thought she was from Craigavon.

She stood for election there a couple of years before she was murdered.

[Saffrongael]

Adams under pressure over knowledge of abuse by his brother - The Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/adams-under-pressure-over-knowlege-of-abuse-by-his-brother-1.1560761

Over his long career Gerry Adams, with his paramilitary (which he denies) and political past, has ended up in corners without any discernible escape route. Yet he has always managed to dodge his enemies and emerge with his political position secure.
But the terrible experience of Áine Adams seems different; this case is about a woman, his niece, now aged 40 who was raped between the ages of four and nine by his brother, Liam Adams.
How this story unfolds will keep returning to Adams's day in court on April 22nd this year and the evidence he gave under cross-examination to Liam Adams's lawyer Eilis McDermott, QC.
In the first trial in April McDermott accused the Sinn Féin president of acting to save his "political skin" rather than in the interests of his niece.

This, crucially, is in relation to when and why he went to the police in 2009 to tell the PSNI of an admission he said his brother Liam made to him nine years earlier in Dundalk of sexually abusing Áine Adams.
"This is above politics. Saving my political skin is no consideration in these matters," replied the Sinn Féin leader. It is an issue now.

Earlier this month the jury in the second trial convicted Liam Adams of raping and sexually abusing Áine Adams from when she was aged four until she was nine, beginning in 1977.
Now other juries are deliberating on what this will or should mean for the political future of Gerry Adams: there's the public jury; the Sinn Féin membership and leadership jury; what Adams believes in some cases is a media "witch-hunt" jury; there are the juries comprised of his political opponents North and South; there are the separate inquiries currently taking place by the North's Attorney General and Police Ombudsman.

It emerged during both the collapsed and completed trials that as far back as 1987 Adams was aware of the abuse allegation against his brother – an allegation Liam Adams denied that same year when confronted by the Sinn Féin leader. That case never proceeded because Áine Adams retracted her evidence to the RUC.
But most particularly, as Adams said in the first trial (he wasn't called to give evidence in the second trial), it was in 2000 during a long walk in the rain in Dundalk that his brother admitted the abuse to him, saying it only happened on one occasion.

When in 2006 Áine Adams reactivated her 1987 allegation Gerry Adams went to the police in 2007 to give a statement - but did not tell them about the 2000 admission by his brother. As McDermott said it took another "two years and four months" before he did tell the PSNI about that admission.
McDermott put it to him that the reason he gave the 2009 statement was because he already knew that UTV's Insight programme was about to run a programme about the abuse. "You needed to make the statement at that stage because you wanted to do your best to avoid allegations that you had withheld information about child sexual abuse?"

It was this evidence that prompted her "saving [your] political skin" charge.
In earlier evidence she also accused him of lying when in 2009 he said that after 1987 Liam Adams was "out of my life more or less for the next 15 years".

She then showed Adams photographs of him and Liam Adams together at family and political events in 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2003. She also raised with him how Liam Adams was able to work in youth clubs in west Belfast and Dundalk in Co Louth – the former and current constituencies of Mr Adams – even in the period after the 2000 admission.

It was also stated during the trials that in 1986 when Sally Adams was raising her family as a single mother that Gerry Adams referred the family to social services, complaining of hygiene problems and lice in the children's hair.

All of this has led to claims that Adams acted in a calculated self-interested fashion to avoid charges of withholding information about child sexual abuse and to save his "political skin"

[Leo]

Hard to stomach a Sinn Fein TD in the Dail today accusing the government of condeming young Irish people to exile (because of the reduced rate of dole money for school leavers). The only group I know actively engaaged in exileing young people from their homes and communities in recent years were - ehm - the Provos. Double speak hasn't gone away you know ( as Gerry, with very personal experience, might say)

You need to wake up and smell the coffee then,as the Provos haven't existed or a long time.

Maybe they havent existed for a time in the Glens, but in Newry the cordite is still stronger than the coffee. In any case, you chose to throw a diversion and not deal with the issue - classic Provo SF tactic. Thanks.