# Gerry Adams- Ex IRA Guman, Ex Deputy First Minister Arrested- Hoist by his own Petard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2014, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425 "2014-05-01T08:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/21 "2014-05-01T11:49:05Z")
[http://news.uk.msn.com/how-a-us-university-project-led-to-gerry-adams-arrest?ocid=binganswers](http://news.uk.msn.com/how-a-us-university-project-led-to-gerry-adams-arrest?ocid=binganswers) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/22 "2014-05-01T11:55:38Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Are you seriously suggesting that there is any doubt that this guy was a killer in his early career? You didn’t rise to a leadership position in the IRA back then for advocating passive resistance, or negotiating with the Brits, or putting flowers in gun barrels. He may have been smart enough to change his tune once it became politically expedient, but there is no doubt about how he got his feet on the ladder. If he didn’t do this murder he did others, probably quite a few. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Irish nationalism (and _they_ are certainly complex), this guy is no Gandhi or Martin-Luther King, he is a lot closer to an Osama Bin-Laden (who no doubt thought he had a just cause too). One man’s terrorist may be another man’s freedom fighter, but either way a killer, an enthusiastic one. Yes. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/23 "2014-05-01T12:07:04Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Yes. > > Carry on. “yes” there is doubt he was a killer/ordered killings or “yes” there isn’t any doubt? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/24 "2014-05-01T12:34:32Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I do wonder about the timing. Sinn Fein is currently on the side of those trying to get a law ratified that would give NI gay marriage just like the rest of the UK has or shortly will, and the Catholic Church is against it. Perhaps that’s behind the timing of this arrest. The Catholic Church? In bed with 50 years of the angry hopes and dreams of [Ian Paisley](http://forgetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/ian_paisley.jpg)? The Devil be Damned! I’M laughing at that concept! Sorry for posting in GD. I was just out for a quart of milk admiring all these new brightly colored curbstones in GD when I saw the thread. I’ll get me coat… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/25 "2014-05-01T12:37:49Z")
Could this be a Rosa Parks moment in the history of British crimes against Ireland? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/26 "2014-05-01T12:49:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Could this be a Rosa Parks moment in the history of British crimes against Ireland? OK, that was funny 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/27 "2014-05-01T13:07:57Z")
Yesssss… Down with the papist scum! Keep Ultser Protestant! Wait…this is not the 1970’s. What possible value could arresting him now be for? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/28 "2014-05-01T13:16:44Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Yesssss… Down with the papist scum! Keep Ultser Protestant! > > Wait…this is not the 1970’s. What possible value could arresting him now be for? Should paramilitary fucks who murdered people in Northern Ireland be given immunity for their murders, just because it happened a long time ago and it would be embarrassing and inconvenient to keep going on and on about murdering people? Maybe so. But if we decide to let murdering paramilitary scum off the hook for murdering people back in the old days, then it can’t be “only if it’s Gerry Adams”. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/29 "2014-05-01T13:19:13Z")
Because he’s guilty of a horrendous, evil murder? This isn’t some act of war. Forgive me if I call bullshit on pretending this is just some collateral damage related to “the Troubles.” They kidnapped an innocent woman - spare me the horseshit and her being a spy, we all know that’s baloney - and shot her and hid her body, like mobsters. If he ordered the act, he should spent the rest of his days in a cell. There is no statute of limitations on murder and for good reason; it is the most despicable thing a person can do and the perpetrators should be hunted down like dogs for the rest of their days. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/30 "2014-05-01T13:31:07Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Wait…this is not the 1970’s. What possible value could arresting him now be for? Same value there is in arresting anyone else who committed a murder a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/31 "2014-05-01T13:33:18Z")
What’s a little murder every now and again between friends? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/32 "2014-05-01T14:43:47Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Yesssss… Down with the papist scum! Keep Ultser Protestant! > > Wait…this is not the 1970’s. What possible value could arresting him now be for? Agreed, this strikes me as being somewhat like if the Israelis arrested Abbas tomorrow if they found proof that he was involved in the infamous Munich Massacre(he’s been alleged to be the money man but it’s never been proven though a Fatah leader of his age had to be involved in several actions that some would call “terrorist”). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/33 "2014-05-01T14:45:42Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Same value there is in arresting anyone else who committed a murder a long time ago. :rolleyes: Yes, and there are absolutely no major challenges at all in prosecuting a even run of the mill historical murder. There should therefore be none in such an emotionally and politically charged crime. Lets see 1. Witnesses. Are likely to be all former PIRA men and many of whom would not be exactly kindly inclined to Mr Adams. And having 40 year old recollections. 2. Moving on from the above, even if he did it, he was and is a sharpe fish, I doubt he actually killed her himself (legally not an issue admittedly) and frannkly I doubt he said “kill her” in so many words 3. Forensics are likely to be iffy at best. This is all nothwitsanding the absolute divisions in the communities that will arise if there is a trial, which leads one to wonder if a prosecution would be in the public interest. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/34 "2014-05-01T15:01:45Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Gerry Adams has been arrested in NI and may be charged with a particularly appalling murder during the Troubles. It is alleged that he was involved in kidnapping a Roman Catholic woman whose only ‘crime’ was to go to the aid of a wounded British Soldier. Is there no Statute of Limitations in NI? ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/35 "2014-05-01T15:08:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Is there no Statute of Limitations in NI? No. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/36 "2014-05-01T15:15:40Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > No. What, not for **any** crime?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/37 "2014-05-01T15:18:58Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > :rolleyes: Yes, and there are absolutely no major challenges at all in prosecuting a even run of the mill historical murder. There should therefore be none in such an emotionally and politically charged crime. > > \ > > This is all nothwitsanding the absolute divisions in the communities that will arise if there is a trial, which leads one to wonder if a prosecution would be in the public interest. Oh, well, if it’s going to be _difficult_, then there’s no point in prosecuting at all. :dubious: Certainly it’s going to be divisive, but if you held off on all divisive prosecutions then nobody famous would ever face justice. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Is there no Statute of Limitations in NI? There isn’t one for murder virtually anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/38 "2014-05-01T15:23:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What, not for **any** crime?! :eek: No. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/39 "2014-05-01T15:34:57Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Should paramilitary fucks who murdered people in Northern Ireland be given immunity for their murders, just because it happened a long time ago and it would be embarrassing and inconvenient to keep going on and on about murdering people? > > Maybe so. But if we decide to let murdering paramilitary scum off the hook for murdering people back in the old days, then it can’t be “only if it’s Gerry Adams”. > [@RickJay](#): > > Because he’s guilty of a horrendous, evil murder? > > This isn’t some act of war. Forgive me if I call bullshit on pretending this is just some collateral damage related to “the Troubles.” They kidnapped an innocent woman - spare me the horseshit and her being a spy, we all know that’s baloney - and shot her and hid her body, like mobsters. If he ordered the act, he should spent the rest of his days in a cell. There is no statute of limitations on murder and for good reason; it is the most despicable thing a person can do and the perpetrators should be hunted down like dogs for the rest of their days. The South African experience with the Truth and Reconciliation Committee is generally considered a good model for moving forward after horrible periods like NI had. So yes, horrible murderers get away with it because it’s better than stoking animosity through dozens of murder trials of people on both sides of the conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425/40 "2014-05-01T15:35:23Z")
Mr Adams has a hard time ahead of him. Even if criminal charges are not pressed, the family of the victim intends to sue him for wrongful death. That will be on balance of probabilities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gerry-adams-ex-ira-guman-ex-deputy-first-minister-arrested-hoist-by-his-own-petard/687425.md?page=3)