Northern Ireland’s Gerry Adams in UK court for trial over IRA bombings

Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams appeared at London’s High Court on Monday for a civil lawsuit which aims to hold him liable for Irish Republican Army bombings in Britain, a case which could ‌affect the prominent republican leader’s legacy.Adams became Sinn Féin leader in 1983 when it was the IRA’s political wing, establishing himself as the face of the movement seeking to end British rule in Northern Ireland.He later reinvented himself as a peacemaker after helping secure the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended three decades of sectarian conflict known ⁠as The Troubles.Barry Laycock (right), a survivor of the 1996 Manchester IRA bombing, arrives at court in London on Monday with his lawyer ahead of a trial which aims to hold former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams liable for IRA bombings. Photo: ReutersAdams has always denied being a member of the Provisional IRA (PIRA), though he has ‌long faced accusations, including from members of the paramilitary group, that he was involved in its campaign of killings.The 77-year-old is now being sued ‌by some of those injured in three bombings: one at London’s Old Bailey court ⁠in 1973 and two ⁠1996 blasts, targeting the British capital and Manchester.The three claimants are seeking a nominal £1 (US$1.33) in damages and ‌a finding that, on the balance of probabilities, Adams was a senior member of the IRA during Northern Ireland’s three decades ‌of ‌sectarian conflict known as The Troubles.Their lawyer, Anne Studd, said at the start of ‌the trial on Monday that Adams was “so intrinsically involved in the PIRA organisation that he is ⁠as culpable for the assaults … as the individuals who planted and detonated the bombs”.