Gerry Adams was on IRA army council, claims intelligence officer

A retired British Army colonel who served as an intelligence officer during the Troubles has alleged that Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA’s ruling army council at the time it authorized bombings in the United Kingdom. These claims were made in the former colonel Richard Kemp’s witness statement, submitted as part of a civil trial against the ex-Sinn Féin leader.

The lawsuit has been filed by three victims of IRA bombings seeking to establish Adams’ personal liability for the car bomb attacks that took place in London and Manchester in 1973 and 1996. Adams firmly denies any involvement in these attacks and has consistently rejected claims that he was ever part of the IRA or its army council. Despite this, the claimants—John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh, and Barry Laycock—are pursuing symbolic damages of one pound each for the injuries they sustained in the Old Bailey attack in 1973 and the London Docklands and Manchester bombings in 1996. Court proceedings have argued that Adams bears as much culpability for the bombings as those who physically carried them out.

Adams’ defense team have dismissed the case as being based on “an assortment of hearsay evidence” and criticized the timing of the lawsuit, given the many decades since the bombings occurred. In court, Kemp described his tenure as an intelligence officer spanning from 1992 to 1994 and later from 2002 to 2005, during which he had access to detailed intelligence focused on Adams’ historical and ongoing activity within the IRA. His statement asserted that Adams was named on the IRA army council and was known to attend its meetings. Kemp further testified that authorization for bomb attacks in Britain would have required approval from this council, making it “inconceivable” that Adams was not involved in sanctioning the bombs.

When questioned in court, Kemp acknowledged he had no direct evidence linking Adams to the attacks but maintained his testimony was based on factual intelligence rather than political or personal bias, despite his outspoken support for veterans. Kemp, who completed seven tours in Northern Ireland, stressed that intelligence information he received would have been withdrawn if proven inaccurate, and he could not recall any such occurrence regarding Adams. He said the intelligence reports “made it very clear Gerry Adams was an IRA commander from the 1970s, certainly up to the time of the (Good Friday) peace deal” in 1998, though he could not specify whether Adams was involved in particular functions at all times.

In addition to Kemp’s testimony, Shane Paul O’Doherty, a former IRA bomber and author who spent 14 years in prison for a letter bomb campaign, also gave evidence. While O’Doherty has written extensively about Adams—publishing numerous blog posts over nearly a decade, some describing Adams as “one of Ireland’s most prolific serial killers”—he denied holding any personal animosity toward Adams. He said his focus was solely on truth and that he regularly prays for Adams’ repentance. O’Doherty confirmed he had never met Adams or spoken with him and that his court appearance marked the first time he had been in the same room as his former adversary.

Further testimony came anonymously from a former British intelligence officer, known only as Witness A, who appeared behind a screen for security reasons. Having served as an Army intelligence specialist in Belfast between 1972 and 1974, Witness A stated his firm belief, supported by intelligence collected over many years, that Adams was an active IRA member on the army council. He argued that Adams would not have achieved his political influence within Sinn Féin if he had not held a significant membership role in the IRA’s leadership, including during the period leading up to the 1996 London Docklands bombing. When cross-examined, the witness acknowledged he had no direct, first-hand evidence to prove Adams’ membership but affirmed: “It is my honest belief that he is.

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