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5 December 2013

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Gerry Adams: Smithwick Report reflects what I said

‘Those who attack me are at odds with what is contained in the Smithwick Report’

GERRY ADAMS has said that it was never his intention to cause any further hurt to the families of RUC officers Breen and Buchanan. He said it is nonsense to suggest he was blaming the two RUC officers for their own deaths when everyone knows the IRA was responsible but what he said about their attitude to security is reflected in Tuesday’s report by Judge Peter Smithwick.

The Smithwick Tribunal was established as a result of an agreement in negotiations in Weston Park in 2001 between the British and Irish governments and the political parties.

After the Weston Park talks, Canadian Judge Peter Cory was asked to look at the killing of Pat Finucane, Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson, Billy Wright, Judge Gibson and his wife, and RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and RUC Superintendent Robert Buchanan.

RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan were shot dead in an IRA ambush in March 1989 in south Armagh as they crossed the Border after a meeting in Dundalk Garda station.

Justice Smithwick investigated claims of collusion between Garda officers in Dundalk and the IRA.

Although Justice Smithwick says he believes “on the balance of probabilities” there was collusion by a garda or gardaí, he fails to identify who or how. And his report records evidence and testimony that the RUC officers’ security was in question by their own colleagues. When Gerry Adams publicly noted this, he came under a barrage of criticism from political and media opponents.

He hit back at “the contrived outburst” by Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin and “the pompous remarks” by Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

“What I said reflects what is recorded by Justice Smithwick,” Gerry Adams said on Thursday in response.

“So those who attack me are at odds with what is contained in the Smithwick Report.

The Sinn Féin leader quoted from the report evidence that what he said was factually based.

He noted that it was established that RUC Superintendent Bob Buchanan was crossing the border on average 10 times each month. On most occasions he travelled in his own car and it was “readily identifiable”, the Smithwick Report records.

Gerry Adams added that Justice Smithwick observes:

“There was a general view that the RUC crossing the border were targets [and] they [referring to RUC members] were all warned in relation to that.”

Despite this evidence, “None of this distracts from the tragedy and loss of life,”

He continued:

“Sinn Féin supported the establishment of the Smithwick Inquiry. I co-operated with the inquiry and met Justice Smithwick and his team and number of times.

“I have concerns about the Tribunal’s conclusions given that it accepts that it found no direct evidence of collusion and then went on to claim without supporting evidence that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ there was collusion.”

He said that Sinn Féin supports the recommendations the tribunal makes with regard to changes in policing and developing full all-Ireland co-operation on policing and justice, pointing out:

Pat-Finucane

“There is also a need to deal with the outstanding issues of Weston Park. The Finucane family are entitled to the same support and levels of disclosure as the Breen and Buchanan families.”

The Sinn Féin leader added:

“What Justice Smithwick describes as collusion is very different in form and scale from the collusion that occurred in the North. During 30 years of war, the British state was responsible for structured, institutionalised and co-ordinated state-run collusion and death squads which led to the deaths of hundreds of citizens, including those killed in the Dublin and Monaghan and Dundalk bomb attacks. The British Government refuses to hand over vital information on these.

“It is also important to note that while the Irish Government has kept its commitment under Weston Park, the British Government is in clear breach of its commitments, having refused to establish an inquiry into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane.”

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