McGuinness hits out at ‘dirty tricks’

PSNI detention of Adams is putting peace process at risk, he tells rally

THE PSNI are trying to use ‘40-year-old allegations’ about Gerry Adams to connect him to the IRA and the Jean McConville killing, Martin McGuinness claimed yesterday.

The angry charge came as it emerged that the Sinn Féin leadership has been engaged in a concerted diplomatic effort to put pressure on senior government members in Dublin, London and even Washington DC.

The party has been stressing that the detention of Adams – who remained in custody at the time of going to press last night – is doing major damage to the fragile peace process.

Speaking at a rally in front of a new mural dedicated to Adams on Belfast’s Falls Road, the North’s Deputy First Minister lambasted the PSNI for continuing to keep the Sinn Féin leader in custody.

Such a move represented a return to the ‘dirty tricks’ of the past, he said. ‘The allegations contained in books and newspaper articles which the PSNI are presenting to Gerry as evidence that he was in the IRA in the 1970s have been around for 40 years,’ he told a crowd of 200 to 300.

‘But they are only now trying to use these. Is that not political policing? This is a replay

‘These allegations have been

around for 40 years’

of the failed effort in 1978 to charge Gerry with membership. ‘That case was based on hearsay, gossip and newspaper articles and it failed. It failed then and it will fail now.’

He added that the PSNI were ‘deliberately and cynically exploiting’ the killing of Jean McConville in order to pursue their own agenda against Adams.

The investigation into the McConville murder was first investigated by the North’s Historical Enquiries Team (HET) which was set up with non-RUC investigators to review cases from the Troubles. It referred the case to the PSNI, who then chose to fight a lengthy court battle in America to get control of the Boston Tapes, which reputedly contained evidence against Adams.

During the case a PSNI spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph it was a ‘corporate decision’, adding: ‘This investigation was referred by the HET Team in line with agreed protocols about legacy investigations in which current lines of inquiry have been identified. It is now being conducted by detectives in serious crime branch...with full corporate approval.’

Party insiders have said that while Adams did write to the PSNI making himself available for questioning about Mrs McConville’s murder, they did not expect him to be arrested, nor for him to be detained for so long.

While the PSNI have stated that he is being questioned about Mrs McConville’s murder, there is growing speculation that consideration might also be given to other charges, including IRA membership.

McGuinness said he had been told by Adams’s legal team – SC Connolly & Co Solicitors from Newry – that detectives were questioning him about many of his speeches, writings and public appearances going back to the 1970s, when he was interned without trial and wrote a newspaper column from prison using the pen name ‘Brownie’.

Other aides to Adams and McGuinness said Catholic west Belfast residents with IRA affiliations had been approached by police recently, asking them to make statements about their knowledge of Adams’ IRA activities.

Last night, deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald described the situation as a ‘kick in the teeth’ for Sinn Féin.

She also rejected suggestions that she should stand in as interim leader, given the Sinn Féin president’s current problems.

Since his arrest, none of his party colleagues has spoken to him.

‘None of us has open access to Gerry,’ Mary Lou McDonald told RTE yesterday.

She said the last time she spoke to him was early Wednesday evening when he was heading up to Antrim.

Deputy McDonald was asked if she was shocked that Mr Adams was still being held last night.

She said: ‘I am beyond surprised or shocked. I am extremely alarmed, I’m extremely angry at this turn of events.’

Sinn Féin sources said it was necessary for Mr Adams to remain on in a leadership role but this weekend one senior member questioned whether he should remain as leader.

The senior figure suggested Mr Adams might instead move to a more ceremonial position and added that Ms McDonald is being discussed as a potential successor.

While she may have alienated some middle-class southern voters with her allegations of politicised policing this week, the comments will have bolstered her support inside the party, the source said.

‘There is a huge well of support

‘Mary Lou’s name is on

everybody’s lips’

for Mary Lou because of her performances, everybody is talking about Mary Lou McDonald.

‘That’s going to be a huge aspect. Pearse Doherty would also be seen as a person with huge modern credibility in Sinn Féin as well.’

In 1972, mother-of-ten Jean McConville was dragged screaming from her house after being falsely accused of being a police informer, driven to another location, tortured and then made to kneel before being shot in the back of the head. She was dumped on a Co. Louth beach 80 kilometres from her Belfast home.

Her remains were only discovered in 2003 when stormy weather exposed her remains.Mr Adams has been accused of ordering her murder by former IRA figures.

The 65-year-old, whose detention since his arrest last Wednesday was extended for a further 48 hours after a late afternoon application before a judge on Friday, has denied the accusations.