Gerry Adams ordered to pay costs in BBC defamation case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Gerry Adams was ordered to pay the BBC’s legal costs in his defamation action at the High Court on 25 March 2022; the order was stayed pending the case’s outcome.

The costs related to two pre-trial motions heard over two days the previous year. One concerned Adams’s effort to strike out parts of the BBC’s defence; the other concerned discovery of documents about his alleged relationship with the IRA.

The judge ruled that the BBC was entitled to some discovery, including material relating to Adams’s alleged membership of the IRA and its army council. She rejected the BBC’s request for material concerning a 1987 press conference.

The judge said Adams should pay the costs of both motions, but agreed that payment should wait until the defamation action concludes. Adams claims the BBC defamed him in a 2016 programme and follow-up article by alleging he sanctioned Denis Donaldson’s killing; Adams denies involvement and the BBC denies defamation.