Gerry Adams in line for UK payout over "wholly inappropriate" law change

UK Ministers have been slammed for a "wholly inappropriate" law change which paves the way for Gerry Adams to receive tens of thousands of pounds in compensation.

The former Sinn Féin leader was blocked from claiming for unlawful detention by legislation passed under the Tory administration.

But the Labour Government plans to repeal this after Northern Ireland’s High Court ruled it breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.

This opens the door for Mr. Adams, who has always denied being an IRA member, and hundreds of former suspected terrorists to lodge UK taxpayer-funded compensation claims.

In a foreword to a Policy Exchange think-tank report against the move, 16 peers said it was "wholly inappropriate" and that paying compensation would be a "very poor use of scarce public funds in a time of national economic crisis."

They called on the Government to reconsider.

Mr. Adams was twice detained without trial during the Troubles – a practice introduced by UK ministers in Ulster to contain spiraling violence in the 1970s.

In 2020, the UK Supreme Court agreed suspects were unlawfully detained. But Tory ministers rejected the ruling and passed the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which included sections blocking any claims.

Labour has now tabled an order for MPs to discuss repealing these sections.

Meanwhile, former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle misrepresented details of his employment, which may have resulted in a misuse of public money, a review has found.

McMonagle, 43, from Limewood Street in Derry, was later jailed for child sex offences. He got an 18-month term, with nine months suspended, last November.

The review found McMonagle simultaneously held two full-time jobs working for Sinn Féin politicians while also working as a press officer for three months in 2020, including being employed by then Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill.

Assembly chief executive Lesley Hogg has told MLAs that the issue has now been referred to the PSNI.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.