Adams' brother sought over alleged abuse

[Kidder81]

I find it troubling, that Adams knew of the allegations against his brother, and said he believed them to be true, yet Liam Adams still worked with children in two West Belfast youth clubs.

[give her dixie]

I must be missing something as well as I think she outlines clearly the lies Gerry told throughout this ordeal.

[Tubberman]

Should Liam Adams have his throat cut open with a homemade knife? Or will ye go for the boiling sugar water down his throat?

[Main Street]

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?

Adams is not clinging, that's patently ridiculous.
There's nothing for him to survive, there is no challenge to his credibility arising from this case.

It's not a question of what other ways her article can be interpreted, it's her interpretation of evidence that she puts forward as supporting her argument that's seriously at fault.
If we are to trust her judgement, then she has to be accurate in all evidence she finds worthy to present as supporting her case, that Adams is toxic. What she has presented is not evidence of guilt, lies or hypocrisy on Adams' behalf. Quite frankly, she doesn't meet that standard. Adams has already given account and her level of evidence has not breached that account, much of what she presents is innuendo. 

[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?

Adams is not clinging, that's patently ridiculous.
There's nothing for him to survive, there is no challenge to his credibility arising from this case.

It's not a question of what other ways her article can be interpreted, it's her interpretation of evidence that she puts forward as supporting her argument that's seriously at fault.
If we are to trust her judgement, then she has to be accurate in all evidence she finds worthy to present as supporting her case, that Adams is toxic. What she has presented is not evidence of guilt, lies or hypocrisy on Adams' behalf. Quite frankly, she doesn't meet that standard. Adams has already given account and her level of evidence has not breached that account, much of what she presents is innuendo. 

Agreed that he's not "clinging" - there's clearly no one in SF that's willing to challenge him.

But how can you say that "What she has presented is not evidence of guilt, lies or hypocrisy on Adams' behalf"? Or that "Adams has already given account and her level of evidence has not breached that account"? There are photos of him with his brother during the time they were supposedly estranged.  Is that not fairly black and white? Is that not evidence of lies?

And of course it challenges his credibility - again, it appears not from within SF or those loyal to the party - but to any objective person, how can it not?

[Leo]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

[Hound]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

[johnneycool]

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.

Gerry certainly has questions to answer on this and if his brother went on to abuse other children then IMO he's got questions to answer in a court of law.

In Tonys world, if Gerry had instigated an investigation into his brothers child abuse and then handed the findings over to someone else to sit on it, then he'd be in the clear.

[Cold tea]

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

Was Daly not in charge when McQuillan was molesting all round him in the Armagh area?

[glens abu]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

[Kidder81]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

He could quite easily have been removed from working in those two youth clubs in West Belfast, Adams said he didn't know his brother was working in them, that is highly implausible.

[glens abu]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

He could quite easily have been removed from working in those two youth clubs in West Belfast, Adams said he didn't know his brother was working in them, that is highly implausible.

Well Gerry did say he informed them but what else could he do without disclosing what Aine didn't want disclosed.If he told people that Liam was a abuser he would have been asked how and who he abused. The problem with the youth club is with the police who say they knew about Liam yet give Liam a clearance to work there.

[theticklemister]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

He could quite easily have been removed from working in those two youth clubs in West Belfast, Adams said he didn't know his brother was working in them, that is highly implausible.

Well Gerry did say he informed them but what else could he do without disclosing what Aine didn't want disclosed.If he told people that Liam was a abuser he would have been asked how and who he abused. The problem with the youth club is with the police who say they knew about Liam yet give Liam a clearance to work there.

How dare you say that. The RUC probably did want information on the Adams' family no doubt, but this did not excuse Gerry from doing fcuk all about this after he knew.  Sure the peelers were probably laughing their balls of that a member of Adams' family were in such a role. How many times have the IRA or SF took care of their own business over the years?

[glens abu]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

He could quite easily have been removed from working in those two youth clubs in West Belfast, Adams said he didn't know his brother was working in them, that is highly implausible.

Well Gerry did say he informed them but what else could he do without disclosing what Aine didn't want disclosed.If he told people that Liam was a abuser he would have been asked how and who he abused. The problem with the youth club is with the police who say they knew about Liam yet give Liam a clearance to work there.

How dare you say that. The RUC probably did want information on the Adams' family no doubt, but this did not excuse Gerry from doing fcuk all about this after he knew.  Sure the peelers were probably laughing their balls of that a member of Adams' family were in such a role. How many times have the IRA or SF took care of their own business over the years?

Yeah and I am going to listen to someone like you :-[you know fcuk all about what Gerry did or didn't do except what your lovable Suzanne says and no matter what i or anyone else try to tell you it means fcuk all because you have your anti shinner blinkers on.Now away and spread your sh1te somewhere else.

[Keyser soze]

Having read back through these threads I am aghast at the apologist mentality that is so myopic that SF posters fail to grasp the enormity of human damgae caused by paedophila

I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Reading all their posts its clear that informing on his brother would have been worse than not informing, in their mindset.

Don't be surprised because you and Leo seemed to have missed the point[although I think there is an excuse for him]Gerry Adams had to respect the wishes of the abused and while she want anonymity he couldn't go about telling the world that his brother was a child abuser.What was he to say when he was asked how did he know or who did Liam abuse,break her anonymity and give her name,ffs get real here.This was a very difficult family matter to handle,while at the same time respecting the abused child's wishes.Think there is a lot of very sick sad people on this board who are prepared to use this child's abuse to get a dig at Gerry Adams.I expect it from the likes of Suzanne Breen but others on here who claim to be concerned with Human rights in other countries should look closer to home.

He could quite easily have been removed from working in those two youth clubs in West Belfast, Adams said he didn't know his brother was working in them, that is highly implausible.

Well Gerry did say he informed them but what else could he do without disclosing what Aine didn't want disclosed.If he told people that Liam was a abuser he would have been asked how and who he abused. The problem with the youth club is with the police who say they knew about Liam yet give Liam a clearance to work there.

I would say Adams would be in quite a difficult position here, trying to balance the feelings of the victim with the imperative to do the right thing ethically and legally, a very difficult decision and not one I hope I would ever have to make.

In terms of the commentary there seems to be an alarming gap in the levels of condemnation of G Adams and that of the RUC who were informed of the allegations and did exactly zero about them. Given their complete lack of response when informed of the allegations I'm not sure what G Adams is expected to do...not turn up at his brothers wedding, tell his employers he was a paedo and get him sacked, go on Talkback and tell everybody??? As far as I know none of these are the prescribed sentence for paedophilia or related crimes.

It is clear the correct authorities were informed of these allegations and did exactly nothing about them, it is not G Adams role to report this given that this has already been reported through the proper channels.

Perhaps Suzanne Breen thinks Gerry shoulda got the kneecappers out. Having said that he probably would have for anyone else in West Belfast who admitted this crime and Im sure plenty of people got kneecapped [some of them in the head  ] for lesser crimes.

The allegation of breaking SF's own rules, talk about scraping around in desperation, I'm sure there were robust procedures for this type of thing in political parties in Ireland in 1987..... hardly. A laughable effort.

This article is a really really poor hatchet job.   C-