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| Inquiry Into Rape Claims Against Irish Republican Army | |
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| DUBLIN — The police and child protection agencies in Ireland are investigating rape and sexual abuse allegations against more than 30 former members of the Irish Republican Army, based on tips from people who were themselves once linked with the group. | DUBLIN — The police and child protection agencies in Ireland are investigating rape and sexual abuse allegations against more than 30 former members of the Irish Republican Army, based on tips from people who were themselves once linked with the group. |
| Among those supplying information to the authorities is Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist political party that had close ties to the I.R.A. during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Mr. Adams, who is now a member of the Irish Parliament, confirmed that he had recently passed information to the Irish authorities, and not for the first time. | Among those supplying information to the authorities is Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist political party that had close ties to the I.R.A. during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Mr. Adams, who is now a member of the Irish Parliament, confirmed that he had recently passed information to the Irish authorities, and not for the first time. |
| “I have brought forward information that I have received, and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity,” he said in an interview Monday with the Irish state broadcaster RTE. “It came to me anonymously. It was left in the letter box of my home in Belfast.” He said he would cooperate fully with the police investigation. | “I have brought forward information that I have received, and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity,” he said in an interview Monday with the Irish state broadcaster RTE. “It came to me anonymously. It was left in the letter box of my home in Belfast.” He said he would cooperate fully with the police investigation. |
| Irish news media reports have said that the targets of the investigation were banished from Northern Ireland by the I.R.A. and went to live in the Republic of Ireland. Mr. Adams acknowledged in a blog posting in October that in the years when the group was active in the North, it sometimes shot or expelled people accused of sex crimes. | Irish news media reports have said that the targets of the investigation were banished from Northern Ireland by the I.R.A. and went to live in the Republic of Ireland. Mr. Adams acknowledged in a blog posting in October that in the years when the group was active in the North, it sometimes shot or expelled people accused of sex crimes. |
| Mr. Adams’s disclosures are the latest twist in a story that first came to international prominence last month, when the BBC broadcast a documentary about a Belfast woman, Mairia Cahill, 33. It related her claims that she was repeatedly raped as a teenager by a man she said was a senior I.R.A. member, and then was secretly interrogated about the rapes by other members of the organization. | Mr. Adams’s disclosures are the latest twist in a story that first came to international prominence last month, when the BBC broadcast a documentary about a Belfast woman, Mairia Cahill, 33. It related her claims that she was repeatedly raped as a teenager by a man she said was a senior I.R.A. member, and then was secretly interrogated about the rapes by other members of the organization. |
| Ms. Cahill took her accusations to the police in the North, but the cases against the people she accused ended in acquittals this year after she withdrew her testimony. | Ms. Cahill took her accusations to the police in the North, but the cases against the people she accused ended in acquittals this year after she withdrew her testimony. |
| Ms. Cahill said in a radio interview with Newstalk this week that she had recently provided the Irish police with information concerning “in and around 30” alleged abusers. | Ms. Cahill said in a radio interview with Newstalk this week that she had recently provided the Irish police with information concerning “in and around 30” alleged abusers. |
| “The reason I don’t put a figure on it is because it has changed,” she said. “If that is the amount of names that have come to me, I know that Sinn Fein will have knowledge of many more.” Her granduncle Joe Cahill was a Sinn Fein leader and supporter of Mr. Adams. | “The reason I don’t put a figure on it is because it has changed,” she said. “If that is the amount of names that have come to me, I know that Sinn Fein will have knowledge of many more.” Her granduncle Joe Cahill was a Sinn Fein leader and supporter of Mr. Adams. |
| There have been growing calls for a cross-border inquiry into the issue of unprosecuted sex crimes committed or covered up by Irish republicans. Rival political parties have compared Sinn Fein to the Roman Catholic Church, which relocated priests who were suspected of abuse rather than report them to the civil authorities. | There have been growing calls for a cross-border inquiry into the issue of unprosecuted sex crimes committed or covered up by Irish republicans. Rival political parties have compared Sinn Fein to the Roman Catholic Church, which relocated priests who were suspected of abuse rather than report them to the civil authorities. |
| Both the Irish government and the Northern Irish provincial authorities said this week that they would consider starting an official investigation. | Both the Irish government and the Northern Irish provincial authorities said this week that they would consider starting an official investigation. |
| The allegations have put Sinn Fein on the defensive politically, but they do not seem to have dented its steadily rising popularity in the Republic, judging by recent opinion polls. | The allegations have put Sinn Fein on the defensive politically, but they do not seem to have dented its steadily rising popularity in the Republic, judging by recent opinion polls. |
| Sinn Fein has accused opponents of trying to demonize the party over the conduct of the I.R.A., which disbanded in 1994. Mr. Adams and other party figures have pointed out that during the decades of conflict in the North, many Catholics there had no confidence or trust in the province’s police or justice system. Even so, Mr. Adams has acknowledged that the I.R.A.’s de facto policing of predominantly Catholic communities failed the victims of abuse. | Sinn Fein has accused opponents of trying to demonize the party over the conduct of the I.R.A., which disbanded in 1994. Mr. Adams and other party figures have pointed out that during the decades of conflict in the North, many Catholics there had no confidence or trust in the province’s police or justice system. Even so, Mr. Adams has acknowledged that the I.R.A.’s de facto policing of predominantly Catholic communities failed the victims of abuse. |
| “I.R.A. personnel were singularly ill-equipped to deal with these matters,” he said. | “I.R.A. personnel were singularly ill-equipped to deal with these matters,” he said. |