Gerry Adams to stand civil trial in 2026 over IRA bombs

Politician Gerry Adams, whose Sinn Fein party was once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, will stand trial in 2026 in a civil case brought by IRA bomb victims, England's High Court ruled Monday.

The case will go to trial between February and June 2026 and the former republican leader will defend himself, it was confirmed at a case management hearing at London's Royal Courts of Justice.

"Finally after five decades, for the first time Adams will appear in person in an English Court to be cross-examined by the victims of his alleged leadership of the IRA's terror campaign," said Matt Jury, a member of the law firm representing the victims.

The case claims that Adams "oversaw the indiscriminate bombing of civilians" during Northern Ireland's Troubles, the decades-long sectarian conflict over British rule.

Mary Louise McDonald replaced Adams as Sinn Fein president in 2018, becoming the leftist party's first leader not connected to the Troubles.

The three claimants are John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing; Jonathan Ganesh, a victim of the 1996 London Docklands bombing; and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping center bombing in Manchester.

They are suing Adams for nominal damages of £1 ($1.26) in a trial that is expected to last seven days.

During the three decades of unrest in Northern Ireland more than 3,500 people were killed until a landmark peace deal in 1998.

IRA bombings over that time targeted sites in Northern Ireland and the UK mainland, including high-profile locations such as the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street, Oxford Street, Harrod's, Hyde Park and Regent's Park.

Adams went from being the IRA's political voice, reviled by the British government and Northern Ireland's unionists, to playing peacemaker to bring violence to an end.

More recently he has become an anti-austerity figurehead in Ireland and cultivated a more kindly image on social media, often posting about dogs, and has even published a recipe book.

© Agence France-Presse