Adams will not be prosecuted over McConville death

Gerry Adams

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and six other individuals who were reported to Northern Ireland’s public prosecution service by the PSNI in relation to the abduction and murder of Jean McConville will not be prosecuted.

The Louth TD presented himself at Antrim police station in April 2014 where he was arrested and held for four days before his release on 4 May.

Ms McConville, a widowed mother of ten, was abducted from her home in the Divis flats in Belfast in December 1972.

She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried south of the border – becoming one of the “Disappeared” victims of the Troubles.

Her body was not found until 2003, when a storm uncovered her remains at Shelling Hill beach in north Louth, 80km from her home.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Pamela Atchison said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect to each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.”

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

The PPS said the evidence against the seven came from a number of different sources.

In some cases hearsay evidence was provided by the Boston College Belfast Project, it added.

The PPS noted that “there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014 and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Ivor Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of Jean McConville.”

Ms Atchison added that the PPS had had a number of meetings with the McConville family and had kept them up to date on all decisions about prosecutions.

She thanked the family for their engagement, and said the PPS would continue to engage with them on the prosecution of Mr Bell.

Bell to be prosecuted over Jean McConville murder

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

The prosecution of a veteran Republican accused of involvement in the notorious IRA murder of Belfast mother of ten Jean McConville is to proceed.

Prosecutors confirmed to District Judge George Conner in Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday their intent to pursue the charges facing pensioner Ivor Bell.

Bell (78) form Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast, is charged with aiding and abetting the murder of the widow, who was abducted from her home in west Belfast in 1972. Her remains were found in August 2003 at Shelling Hill beach in North Louth.

Bell is further accused of IRA membership but denies the charges.

Sinn Féin president and local TD Gerry Adams was last year arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into Mrs McConville’s death.

The Louth TD has consistently rejected allegations made to Boston College by former republican colleagues including Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price that he had a role in ordering her death.

The PPS continues to review a file on Mr Adams.

McConville’s son hits out at Adams’ comments

Gerry Adams

The son of Jean McConville, the widowed Belfast mother of 10, who was murdered in Belfast by the IRA in 1972 has criticised comments made about the case on US TV by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

In an interview broadcast on CBS Mr Adams denied having any role in the murder of Mrs McConville and told interviewer Scott Pelley that he never pulled a trigger, set off a bomb or ordered a death.

When pushed by Mr Pelley about the death of Mrs McConville, Mr Adams said: “That’s what happens in wars, Scott,” Mr Adams said. “That’s not [to] minimise it – that’s what American soldiers do, British soldiers do, Irish republican soldiers do – that’s what happens in every single conflict.”

Speaking to RTÉ yesterday Michael McConville was critical of the Sinn Féin leader’s comments.

“I think to be honest that Gerry Adams is a hypocrite. If this happened to an IRA family and 10 children were left orphaned, would he say the same thing?”

Addressing Mr Adams’ comment that his mother’s death was “what happens in wars,” Mr McConville said: “If this was a war then the execution and the death and the burial of our mother and the kidnap of our mother is a war crime”.

“If this had happened in any other conflict around the world people would have been brought to justice for war crimes,” he added.

Ms McConville’s body was discovered on Shelling Hill beach in North Louth in 2003.

Adams under fire for McConville comments

Local TD Gerry Adams has come under fire after describing the abduction and murder of mother-of-ten Jean McConville as something that “happens in war”.

The Sinn Féin president said the horrific murder in the early 1970s was no different to what occurred in conflicts involving US and British armed forces.

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

Ms McConville was taken from her home in front of her children and murdered by the IRA in 1972.

Mr Adams was arrested last year for questioning in connection with the young woman’s murder and disappearance. He was later released without charge.

In an interview with US television station CBS, Mr Adams is asked about his arrested and the Boston College tapes, in which former IRA members alleged he was involved in Ms McConville’s murder

“I was sick, sore and tired of a tsunami of stories based on these tapes linking me to Mrs McConville’s death. So I contacted the police and said, ‘Look you want to talk to me, I’m here to talk,” Mr Adams told the CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Mr Adams was held for four days and asked to listen to the Boston College recordings.

“They said I was a senior member of the IRA at managerial level and I was bound to know….I told them I didn’t,” Mr Adams said.

In a preview of the show due to be aired on Sunday, interviewer Scott Pelley then asked Mr Adams “how do you orphan 10 children, what kind of depravity is that?”

Mr Adams responded: “That’s that happens in war, Scott. That’s not to minimise it. That’s what American soldiers do, British soldiers do, Irish republican soldiers do, you know. That’s what happens in every single conflict.”

Ms McConville’s remains were discovered on Shelling Hill beach in North Louth in 2003.

Death threat made against Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams

Local TD Gerry Adams has said he has been warned of another death threat.

The Sinn Féin president claimed at the the weekdn that he was told by officers from the PSNI  that a threat had been made against him and other senior Sinn Féin figures by someone purporting to speak for the outlawed loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

Mr Adams used his Twitter account to break the news.

On Saturday night he tweeted: “Just been told by PSNI of death threat against me & SF leadership by someone claiming 2 speak 4 UFF.”

Speaking on Sunday morning Deputy Adams said: “The PSNI contacted me last night to make me aware of a death threat against me and the Sinn Féin leadership.

“This is a worrying development but it will not deter me or Sinn Féin from moving forward with our campaign for a new, independent Ireland of equals.”

Last week the 65-year-old was forced to apologise for using offensive language to describe some unionists during a public meeting in Northern Ireland.

He used the term “bastards” while answering a question at a gathering in Co Fermanagh but insisted it was aimed at bigots.

In May, he was told there was a “credible” threat against his life after his release from police custody where he had been questioned about the murder of Belfast mother Jean McConville in 1972 and other alleged links to the IRA.

He blamed opponents of the peace process for the threat which was passed to members of his family while he was detained at Antrim police station for four days.

58-year-old man arrested in connection with death of Jean McConville

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

Detectives in the North have arrested a 58 year-old man in connection with the murder and abduction of Jean McConville in 1972.

The man was arrested in west Belfast this morning and brought to the Serious Crime Suite in Antrim Police Station.

This is the latest in a series of arrests in connection with Mrs McConville’s death this year.

In December 1972, Mrs McConville, a mother of 10, was abducted from her home in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women.

Her family had later speculated the IRA wrongly assumed she was an informer. Mrs McConville had also converted from Protestant to Catholic to marry her husband Arthur McConville, a Catholic former British Army soldier who died of cancer in early 1972.

In the years that followed the signing of the Belfast Agreement, the Republican movement insisted Mrs McConville was an informer.

Former IRA member Brendan Hughes alleged she had only been killed after being warned to stop supplying information. However, a Police Ombudsman investigation in 2006 found no evidence to support that contention.

It also concluded the murder had not been investigated until 1995, when a minor probe was undertaken by the RUC.

After years of searching, Mrs McConville’s body was found in 2003 when heavy rain unearthed the remains at Shelling Hill Beach on the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth, 50 miles from her home.

73-year-old released without charge following McConville questioning

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

A 73-year-old man who was arrested yesterday by detectives investigating the abduction and murder of Jean McConville has been released without charge.

The man was detained by detectives from the Serious Crime Branch of the PSNI in Dunmurray yesterday morning.

He was taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim police station for questioning and later released unconditionally, PSNI detective inspector Neil McGuiness said.

Several people have been detained and questioned this year in connection with the 1972 murder, the most high profile being Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. Mr Adams (65) was released in May without charge after four days in police custody.

Yesterday’s arrest came as Belfast man Ivor Bell (77), who has been charged with paramilitary membership and aiding and abetting the murder, made his latest appearance in court in relation to the case.

In December 1972, Mrs McConville was dragged, screaming, away from her children in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women.

Her family had later speculated the IRA wrongly assumed she was an informer. Mrs McConville had also converted from Protestant to Catholic to marry her husband Arthur McConville, a Catholic former British Army soldier who died of cancer in early 1972.

There has also been a suggestion, although uncorroborated, that she tended to a wounded British soldier outside her door in the summer, just months before her murder.

In the years that followed the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the Republican movement insisted Mrs McConville was an informer.

Former IRA member Brendan Hughes alleged she had only been killed after being warned to stop supplying information. However, a Police Ombudsman investigation in 2006 found no evidence to support that contention.

It also concluded the murder had not been investigated until 1995, when a minor probe was undertaken by the RUC.

After years of searching, Mrs McConville’s body was found in 2003 when heavy rain unearthed the remains at Shellinghill Beach on the Cooley peninsula, 50 miles from her home.

Man arrested over Jean McConville murder

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

A man has been arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972.

The 73-year-old from Dunmurray was detained by detectives from the Serious Crime Branch of the PSNI this morning.

“He has been taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim police station for questioning,” PSNI detective inspector Neil McGuiness said.

Several people have been detained and questioned this year in connection with the murder – the most high profile being Sinn Féin president and local TD Gerry Adams. Mr Adams (65) was released in May without charge after four days in police custody.

Mrs McConville was dragged, screaming, away from her children in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women after being wrongly accused of informing to the security forces.

The 37-year-old widow was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried – becoming one of the ‘Disappeared’ victims of the Troubles. Her body was not found until 2003 on a beach in Shelling Hill in north Louth, 50 miles from her home.

McConville daughter prepared to risk her life by revealing mother’s killers

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

One of the daughters of Jean McConville has said she is prepared to risk her life by revealing the identities of the 12 people she believes are responsible for her mother’s death more than 40 years ago.

Mrs McConville, 37, a widow and mother-of-ten, was seized from her home in the Divis flats in west Belfast, interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried by an IRA gang in December 1972.

Her body was found on a beach at Templetown in north Louth years later, in 2003, 80km from her home.

But despite seven arrests, the only suspect charged to date in relation to the case is veteran republican Ivor Bell.

The 77-year-old former IRA negotiator with the British government has been charged with aiding and abetting the murder, which he denies.

However, Helen McKendry, 56 — one of Mrs McCovnville’s children — said she is convinced she knows the identities of the people who kidnapped and killed her mother.

And in an interview with The Observer the mother-of-five she said she is prepared to cooperate with authorities to finally bring the perpetrators to justice.

She said: “I will name names. I am not scared of dying. If I die, I know I have five children who will carry on the campaign.

Just over two months ago Sinn Féin leader and Louth TD Gerry Adams was arrested by the PSNI in connection with the murder.

Following his release he stressed he was innocent of involvement in her murder.

But Mrs McKendry said in her interview that she is considering mounting a civil action against him — if there is not evidence for the Public Prosecution Service to proceed.

Mrs McKendry’s husband, Seamus, revealed he has previously confronted Adams in 1995. “It was all the usual bullshit. [He said] ‘Sinn Féin can say categorically they aren’t involved.’ He wouldn’t look Helen in the eye.”

Majority of voters believe Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA, poll finds

Gerry Adams

A large majority of voters believe Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA despite his consistent denials, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll.

However, the poll also shows that the Louth TD’s arrest as part of the police inquiry into Jean McConville’s murder will have no impact on how the majority of people vote.

Asked if they believe that Mr Adams was or was not a member of the IRA, 68 per cent said he was, 9 per cent said he was not and 23 per cent had no opinion.

Sinn Féin voters were much more inclined than supporters of other parties to say Mr Adams was not a member of the IRA but even so a majority of them said he was.

Better-off voters and farmers were more inclined to say he was a member than working class voters.

Asked if they were more or less likely to vote Sinn Féin in the light of the Adams arrest, 7 per cent said they were more likely, 22 per cent said less likely, 65 per cent said it would have no impact and 6 per cent had no opinion.

More women than men said they were less likely to vote Sinn Féin in the light of the arrest.

The youngest, 18 to 24 age group, were twice as likely as the over-65s to say they were less likely to vote for Mr Adams as a result of the arrest.

In terms of party support Sinn Féin voters differed markedly from the rest with a significant number saying they were more likely to support the party following the arrest of Mr Adams.

Few supporters of the other major parties said they were more likely to vote for Mr Adams as a result of his arrest but the bulk of them said that the episode would not affect their decision.

Source: The Irish Times