Adams' brother sought over alleged abuse

[Cold tea]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24348798

Found guilty - hope the bastard gets beat every day in jail.

[give her dixie]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013


Major questions hang over the political leadership of Gerry Adams following the conviction of his brother Liam for child sexual abuse.


The Sinn Fein president's right to hold public office was last night brought into doubt as his evasive and duplicitous account of his relationship with his brother – and his disturbingly inadequate response to Aine's claims that she had been raped – were exposed.

And by not informing Sinn Fein of the sexual abuse allegations against his brother when he was first told them in 1987, Mr Adams broke his own party's rules.

Reporting restrictions during the trial meant that his actions couldn't be put in the public domain. But the inexcusable inadequacies of his response after learning of his brother's paedophilia can now be detailed.

Gerry Adams has believed for 27 years that his brother Liam is a paedophile. Yet he attended his wedding, took him canvassing for Sinn Fein in Dundalk, and Liam remained a highly visible and active member of the party years after Gerry claimed he had him kicked out.

In 2009 Mr Adams told UTV's Insight that he had believed Aine from the moment in 1987 when she told him her father had raped her. He said he'd always supported her and that, after hearing her claims, he had been estranged from his brother for 15 years until 2002-3.

This was not true. Photographs given to this reporter show the Sinn Fein president at Liam's wedding and reception in the Bellingham Castle Hotel in Co Louth 10 years after he said he was estranged from his brother. He is pictured standing smiling beside Liam wearing a green ribbon for IRA prisoners.

During Liam Adams' first trial, a prosecution barrister accused Gerry Adams of telling "another lie" after he made the same assertion that he and his brother spent a decade-and-a-half apart.

Contrary to what he said on TV, Gerry Adams maintained regular contact with Liam, staying overnight at his home in Dundalk; and Liam actually lived with him for several weeks in his west Belfast home after he had secured a job in a youth centre in Clonard.

Gerry Adams never disclosed to UTV that his brother had been a Sinn Fein member. When he was later forced to admit it, he portrayed Liam's involvement as minor and shortlived.

Liam Adams was actually a high-ranking Sinn Fein member in Dundalk in the 1990s and in Belfast the following decade. He sought the nomination to be the party's Co Louth candidate in the 1997 Dail election but failed.

Gerry Adams has said that when he "heard" that the brother he believed to be a paedophile was in Sinn Fein, he "moved immediately" to stop his Dail nomination and "to get him dumped out of Sinn Fein... I moved very, very quickly".

Again, this was not true. Photographs eight months after Gerry Adams said he had Liam "dumped" from the party show the Sinn Fein president canvassing in June 1997 in the Dail election campaign with the brother he believed was a paedophile, and from whom he was allegedly estranged.

The Adams brothers are shown laughing on the canvass in a shopping centre and on the Dundalk streets. Several republicans on the canvass have made statements saying the Adams brothers were very close and on excellent terms.

Sinn Fein initially stated that Liam Adams was "never a party officer". That was untrue. He was Sinn Fein's most senior official in Co Louth. As chairman of the Louth comhairle ceantair, he liaised directly with the leadership.

A photograph published in a local Dundalk paper shows Liam Adams standing beside Martin McGuinness at the official opening of the party's new office in the town in June 1996.

And 13 months after Liam Adams was supposedly "dumped" by his brother from Sinn Fein, he chaired the Edentubber IRA martyrs commemoration in Co Louth attended by thousands of republicans. He introduced Sinn Fein's then national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin as the main speaker at the event, which is one of the most important in the republican calendar.

Gerry Adams is on the record as saying he didn't tell anyone else in Sinn Fein that there were allegations of paedophilia against his brother. This contravened the party's constitution at the time, which stated: "Where allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are made, they should be referred directly to an ard comhairle."

The most powerful man in Sinn Fein has treated his party's internal rules with contempt. Liam Adams' political career spanned both sides of the border.

After his involvement in the party in Dundalk, he went on to be an active and founder member of the Lower Andersonstown Sinn Fein cumann, which met weekly in the Felons Club, two streets away from Gerry Adams' home.

He was a treasurer for Sinn Fein in west Belfast and a joint signatory on the Cumann mheon na Fuiseoige chequebook. He had previously been a member of Sinn Fein in Co Donegal and had attended party events in Dublin.

Gerry Adams knew that his brother was working with children in various youth projects in west Belfast. Yet, despite his public claims, he has produced no evidence to prove he took action to have Liam swiftly removed from his position by his employers. The only named person that he says he informed is a now dead priest.

Gerry Adams' repeated evasions and failure to take decisive action to ensure other children were potentially not at risk from his paedophile brother surely make him politically toxic.

They certainly strip him of any credibility and moral authority he had left. His actions are hardly in keeping with a party which is in Government here and seeks the same in the Republic.

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/liam-adams-sordid-episode-has-left-sinn-fein-president-gerry-adams-politically-toxic-29626240.html

[theticklemister]

Gerry Adams knew the extreme allegations which was put to his brother and still he knew that he was working in youth centres in Belfast. how the f**k has he not come in for more criticism here?

I ask you if this happened anywhere else in the world would the aforementioned person not made to resign?

[Ulick]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

No matter how much Suzanne Breen wants to believe this, it's simply not true, Gerry is far from toxic.

He is still President of SF because there have been no challengers and the vast majority of members recognise he is their best overall performer especially for that role. He will continue to get re-elected for as long as he cares to try, for again no matter how much Suzanne Breen would like it to be different, the vast majority won't condemn him for the sins of the brother for they will all thing "but for the grace of God there go I" - as they say.

[glens abu]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

No matter how much Suzanne Breen wants to believe this, it's simply not true, Gerry is far from toxic.

He is still President of SF because there have been no challengers and the vast majority of members recognise he is their best overall performer especially for that role. He will continue to get re-elected for as long as he cares to try, for again no matter how much Suzanne Breen would like it to be different, the vast majority won't condemn him for the sins of the brother for they will all thing "but for the grace of God there go I" - as they say.

Very true Ulick but Suzanne and the anti Shinners are out in forceftp://,hope it never comes to their door.

[give her dixie]

Gerry Adams knew the extreme allegations which was put to his brother and still he knew that he was working in youth centres in Belfast. how the f**k has he not come in for more criticism here?

I ask you if this happened anywhere else in the world would the aforementioned person not made to resign?

Indeed. when you consider the other thread running where so many people want to do all sorts of things to a man in custody accused of raping young girls. Here we have a man convicted of raping his daughter over a long period, and his brother, who is the leader of a major political party, covered up for him, lied to the party, and let him work with children again. Unreal. Yet no one is calling for Liam to be on the receiving end of mob justice, or for his brother to resign.

Cardinal Brady covered up child abuse and is still in power. Gerry Adams covered up child abuse, and he too will remain in power. Integrity in positions of power doesn't seem to be on the job description for these men. 

[T Fearon]

Cardinal Daly is deceased.His successor Cardinal Brady carried out a full investigation into allegations of child abuse and promptly reported his findings.

[give her dixie]

Cardinal Daly is deceased.His successor Cardinal Brady carried out a full investigation into allegations of child abuse and promptly reported his findings.

Sorry Tony, my mistake. Cardinal Brady was indeed the man responsible for covering up child abuse and getting young children to sign statements.

[Maguire01]

Cardinal Daly is deceased.His successor Cardinal Brady carried out a full investigation into allegations of child abuse and promptly reported his findings.

*yawn*

[Maguire01]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

No matter how much Suzanne Breen wants to believe this, it's simply not true, Gerry is far from toxic.

He is still President of SF because there have been no challengers and the vast majority of members recognise he is their best overall performer especially for that role. He will continue to get re-elected for as long as he cares to try, for again no matter how much Suzanne Breen would like it to be different, the vast majority won't condemn him for the sins of the brother for they will all thing "but for the grace of God there go I" - as they say.

No one is condemning him for the sins of his brother. The 'sins', if you want to use that terminology, as outlined in Suzanne Breen's article, are Gerry's, not his brother's.

That no one in SF sees fit to challenge him (despite the fact that as well as issues with his account of what happened, he - according to Breen's article - failed to follow party protocol) speaks volumes of what SF consider acceptable conduct from their leader.

[Myles Na G.]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

No matter how much Suzanne Breen wants to believe this, it's simply not true, Gerry is far from toxic.

He is still President of SF because there have been no challengers and the vast majority of members recognise he is their best overall performer especially for that role. He will continue to get re-elected for as long as he cares to try, for again no matter how much Suzanne Breen would like it to be different, the vast majority won't condemn him for the sins of the brother for they will all thing "but for the grace of God there go I" - as they say.

Gerry may or may not be 'toxic' with SF's traditional support. If they don't get rid of him, however, the Shinners will find that there is a cap on their potential support. They won't be able to attract new voters while Adams is in charge.

[Main Street]

Liam Adams: Sordid episode has left Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams politically toxic

BY SUZANNE BREEN – 02 OCTOBER 2013

The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history.

No matter how much Suzanne Breen wants to believe this, it's simply not true, Gerry is far from toxic.

He is still President of SF because there have been no challengers and the vast majority of members recognise he is their best overall performer especially for that role. He will continue to get re-elected for as long as he cares to try, for again no matter how much Suzanne Breen would like it to be different, the vast majority won't condemn him for the sins of the brother for they will all thing "but for the grace of God there go I" - as they say.

Breen doesn't charge G Adams for the crimes of his brother, she charges Adams with forms of deceit and collusion leading to what she terms, irrepairable levels of toxicity for him. It should be mentioned that Breen fails utterly to present a case or a coherent argument and does not come close to what could be described as a forensic analysis of the evidence that she presents, to support her argument.

She presents a mishmash of incidents to prove her case against Adams and not one of those incidents prove anything of the sort.
There's an evident emotional bias in her piece, which  blinkers her to just one cynical interpretation of any incident, an interpretation which just happens to support her case

[muppet]

Sean Brady dug in and refused to resign. IMHO that was a disastrous decision for the Church in Ireland.

This is more unfortunate as it involves family members and thus is obviously far more emotive. That emotion naturally can blur priorities.

However the length of time involved and the conflicting statements will become problematic for SF. There will be little concern for the real victim, i.e. the girl involved, and the story will be rehashed and spun by political opponents at every important opportunity. In that regard Breen has a point.

[seafoid]

Cardinal Daly is deceased.His successor Cardinal Brady carried out a full investigation into allegations of child abuse and promptly reported his findings.

Unfortunately nobody is available for comment at the moment
We acted on information we believed was correct at the time
I can't comment on individual cases
Obviously it fell way short of expectations
We fulfilled all of our legal requirements
There have been failings in the system however lessons have been learned

[Maguire01]

She presents a mishmash of incidents to prove her case against Adams and not one of those incidents prove anything of the sort.
There's an evident emotional bias in her piece, which  blinkers her to just one cynical interpretation of any incident, an interpretation which just happens to support her case

Not clear on what you're getting at here Main Street. What case is she trying to prove? And what other ways could incidents in her article be interpreted?

For example, Gerry is reported as having said he had been estranged from his brother for 15 years until 2002-3, however, photographs apparently show him at his brother's wedding 10 years after he said he was supposedly estranged from his brother. The article also states that he maintained regular contact with his brother, "staying overnight at his home in Dundalk; and Liam actually lived with him for several weeks in his west Belfast home after he had secured a job in a youth centre in Clonard." How many ways is this open to interpretation? I'm genuinely interested if i'm missing something here.

the article says: "Photographs eight months after Gerry Adams said he had Liam "dumped" from the party show the Sinn Fein president canvassing in June 1997 in the Dail election campaign with the brother he believed was a paedophile, and from whom he was allegedly estranged." Again, what are we to interpret here?

She finishes the article with this line: The Louth TD continues to cling onto the reins of power but it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive such a damning history. Is she off the mark?