Sinn Fein leader’s brother to fight Northern Ireland extradition on charges of raping daughter

Sinn Fein leader’s brother to resist extradition

DUBLIN — Liam Adams, brother of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, will resist extradition to Northern Ireland where he faces 18 charges of sexually abusing his daughter, his lawyers told a Dublin judge Wednesday.

The legal fight has put an embarrassing spotlight on Sinn Fein’s Adams. His Irish Republican Army-linked party began cooperating with the police in Northern Ireland only three years ago and today aspires to help oversee law and order in the British territory.

The 61-year-old party leader appealed Sunday to his younger brother to return to Belfast, where he faces five charges of rape, six of gross indecency and seven of indecent assault allegedly inflicted on his daughter Aine from 1977 to 1983. She was aged 4 to 10 at the time.

Aine Tyrell, now 36, says she tried repeatedly to raise her allegations within Sinn Fein since the late 1980s, including in several face-to-face meetings with Gerry Adams. She went public in December and declared that Gerry Adams was more interested in protecting Sinn Fein’s reputation than in bringing his brother to justice.

Gerry Adams denies this, although he admits knowing about the abuse allegations — and believing them — since 1987.

Liam Adams, 54, surrendered to Dublin police last week after the Irish High Court issued a Europe-wide warrant for his arrest. He fled his Belfast home more than a year ago when a criminal trial appeared imminent, but denies all the charges.

He was freed on continuing bail Wednesday after his lawyers told High Court Justice Paul Butler they intended to file written arguments objecting to his extradition chiefly on fair-trial grounds. Butler scheduled that hearing for April 21.

Liam Adams didn’t speak during the brief session. He was accompanied in court by another daughter, Claire Smith, and her husband.

IRA suspects long used the Republic of Ireland as a safe haven during their 1970-1997 campaign of violence in Northern Ireland. Southern judges often refused to extradite IRA suspects north, citing the political motivation of their attacks, but the two states now cooperate closely on criminal-justice matters.

As part of its campaign to deter Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority from supporting the police, the IRA acted as a vigilante force within its host communities. It killed people suspected of passing tipoffs to police and shot alleged criminals in the legs and arms. Those so-called “punishment” attacks stopped in 2005 when the IRA disarmed and renounced violence.