FORMER Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been awarded 100,000 euro (£84,000) in damages after winning his libel action against the BBC.
The ruling was handed down at the High Court in Dublin on Friday morning.
Adams said that a BBC Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement.
A jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article.
It also found the BBC’s actions were not in good faith and that it had not acted in a fair and reasonable way.
Donaldson was shot dead in County Donegal in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent over 20 years.
In the programme broadcast in September 2016, an anonymous source given the pseudonym Martin claimed the shooting was sanctioned by the political and military leadership of the IRA and that Adams gave “the final say”.
In 2009, the dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing and a Garda investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
Adams said the allegation was a “grievous smear” while the BBC has described the legal action as a “cynical attempt to launder his reputation”.
The high-profile republican sought damages of at least 200,000 euro (£168,000) from the BBC.
However, the BBC had argued it would be a “cruel joke” to award the former Sinn Fein president any damages.
The jury determined that Adams should be awarded 100,000 euro, which the jury heard falls on the medium scale for defamation.
Trial judge Justice Alexander Owens told the jury that the BBC had put forward the position that Adams had “no reputation at all” and the broadcaster had argued to the jury that it should award only nominal damages, putting forward the option of just one euro.
