If the arrest of Gerry Adams comes as a surprise to some, it will not come as a surprise to him. News of his questioning by the PSNI over the murder of Jean McConville has gone global already, but we must not forget that the “arrest” was not made by force, and that the Sinn Fein President was not caught while attempting to evade capture. As he said himself, he had already indicated his willingness to meet with the police to discuss the McConville case, and his presenting himself at Antrim Police Station was “voluntary.”
Nearly everyone will have an opinion on this controversy, and not a few will have passed sentence already. Mr Adams still maintains that he is innocent of any involvement in one of the most notorious killings. Deceased IRA compatriots, Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price maintained the opposite. Whether or not the veteran republican is charged in connection with Jean McConville’s abduction and death remains to be seen. We should “judge nothing before the time” (1 Cor.4:5).
However, at the same time it is incumbent on those republicans who have played down the seriousness of this case, to show remorse for their hardness. Who can forget Mitchel McLaughlin’s arrogant assertion that Jean McConville’s killing was not a criminal act, given the context of the Troubles and the claim she was a spy? Talk about a grievous injustice! It is two fingers up in the face of the McConville family.
In the final analysis, no one can be on the run from justice for ever. Conscience will have a resurrection and God will “bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (1 Cor.4:5).
10 Comments
In the 1970s, a mother of eight was murdered, shot in the back when no danger to anyone, and yesterday her family were cruelly & casually rebuffed in their quest for the truth of her murder.
Silence from the leaders of Unionism.
Disinterest from the media.
I refer to Joan Connolly, murdered in Balymurphy by the infamously aggressive Parachute Regiment, on orders from…. We’ll never know.
Barney Rowan has elucidated better than I can the fact that the Troubles were murderous on all sides. Yet Unionism, and, to a lesser extent (because they just want away from us altogether), the British establishment, maintain the bizarre narrative that it was the Provos wot done it, despite the Provos not existing when the Troubles flared & the initial murders of the Troubles being committed by the State & by Loyalists.
Hence Unionism & the State have absolutely no interest in the truth they so loudly claim to want.
Similarly, the Southern establishment has no interest in getting the truth of the Dublin & Monaghan bombings from their new best friends (‘as good as sex’ said Prof. Roy Foster http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/state-visit-seals-the-end-of-an-era-for-ireland-1.1754605), but is extremely agitated about guarding their Thatcherite fiefdom from electoral competition from uppity ‘nordies’.
Either we establish a mechanism for truth recovery on all sides, or, viz. John Larkin, we move on. That smacks of equality: no wonder Unionism won’t have it.
It’s also worth baring in mind what Jesus said – Mat 5:9 “blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called sons of God”
That is very true. Although an honorable peace is hardly possible when guilt is concealed. If Mr Adams is innocent, then someone else is guilty. Whoever he/she/they are they should do what is right and own up, and thereby bring some closure to the victim’s family. The same rule applies to loyalists who conceal the truth from those who have a right to know. It is high time they did the right thing.
Kyle there is a difference between knowledge and trial. The idea of a truth commission is to allow that knowledge emerge, however when someone is investigated charged etc then effort is put into establishing a half truth, a truth from one perspective (prosecution) as opposed to truth from the other perspective (defence). Having said all that I am willing to acknowledge my guilt in whatever small part for some of the events of the troubles. I didn’t physically carry out acts of violence, but I did support people who did, so yes I am guilty, as anyone who lived during the troubles is guilty. When we all acknowledge our guilt as opposed to seeking blame we might just be able to move on and have “an honourable peace”.
God will be shining a lot of light on the big mouth with the bought degree who preached on the Ravenhill Road for years
Thank you for a measured and balanced response.
I have been very interested as to why Gerry Adams is so explicit about non-membership of the IRA at any time and my conclusion is that if he did declare what most people believe, (including members of the PIRA at the time and now), as a declared IRA member and president of Sinn Fein, he may well end up in a series of civil actions or a class action by victims of IRA atrocities who believe he was complicit, very much as the Omagh bombers were.
I am also interested in the exact language he uses around the Jean McConville murder, insofar as he had no part in the abduction, killing or burial of Jean McConville, which falls short of ordering a killing as some of members of the IRA at the time allege.
It will be well-nigh impossible to convict the man on the word of two dead critics – Hughes and Price – who were dissidents at heart and despised the deal republicans struck with the British. Their testimony against Adams seems tainted.
Do the powers-that-be have other incriminating evidence against the Sinn Fein President? Nothing has emerged so far, else we would know about it. .
One thing that puzzles me – why did the police ask him to submit himself voluntarily this week, when he was ready weeks ago to face questioning?
I hope for the sake of the McConville family that whoever is responsible for the brutal killing of their mother so many years ago, will be found out and dealt with by due process of law.
Being an IRA member – even one 30 years ago – is still a crime punishable by 2 years in prison.
While I will not condone the killing of McCoville or attempt to justify it, there seems to be a bit of a hypocracy regarding Unionist/Loyalist support of the family. The McConville family did not always live in the Divis Flats…rather they lived accross the city in East Belfast; however during 1969 they – along with many others – were burned out of their homes and forced to move to the west side of the city. So the fact that the protestors were out infron of the police station reportedly “supporting the McConville family” stinks to high heaven