Finally, after five decades, Adams will for the first time appear in an English court to be cross-examined by victims of his (as we claim) leadership during IRA's terror, says Matt Jury, at the law firm representing the three individuals suing Adams in a civil court.
The three survived attacks in London in 1973 and 1996, and in Manchester in 1996. The lawsuit is symbolic, they are demanding Adams pay 1 pound, equivalent to approximately 14 kronor.
Sinn Féin was formed as a political branch of the armed IRA, which was behind bloody deeds throughout the UK until the peace agreement in Northern Ireland in 1998. Adams has repeatedly denied being the leader of the armed movement.
The British Supreme Court previously gave the three the right to sue Adams, but only gave the green light for a civil trial during the first half of 2026 on Monday.
The conflicts in Northern Ireland erupted in the 1960s in riots and violence. On both sides, there were militant terrorist movements that used murder and bombings. A total of over 3,500 people were killed and tens of thousands injured until the peace agreement in the so-called Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
On one side stood the so-called nationalists or republicans who fought for better conditions for the Catholic population group and for a national Irish reunification with the independent Republic of Ireland. The most well-known paramilitary groups on the nationalist side were the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the breakaway groups Provisional IRA and Real IRA.
Between 1972 and 1998, the Provisional IRA carried out a large number of bomb attacks also in England.
On the other side were the loyalists or unionists, who took their name from their loyalty to the British crown and their desire to remain part of the British union. On the unionist side, groups such as the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) and the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) fought.
In parallel, British authorities deployed 26,000 soldiers and 13,000 police officers to quell the unrest.
