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| Gerry Adams will not face charges over Jean McConville murder | Gerry Adams will not face charges over Jean McConville murder |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, will not face any charges in connection with one of the most controversial murders of Northern Ireland’s Troubles – the abduction, murder and secret burial of Jean McConville. | Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, will not face any charges in connection with one of the most controversial murders of Northern Ireland’s Troubles – the abduction, murder and secret burial of Jean McConville. |
| The Public Prosecution Service in the region confirmed on Tuesday it had taken a decision not to prosecute seven individuals in relation to the McConville killing, which was the most notorious of the “disappeared”. | The Public Prosecution Service in the region confirmed on Tuesday it had taken a decision not to prosecute seven individuals in relation to the McConville killing, which was the most notorious of the “disappeared”. |
| She was one of 16 people the IRA murdered and whose bodies were hidden, after being accused of working as informants for the security forces. | She was one of 16 people the IRA murdered and whose bodies were hidden, after being accused of working as informants for the security forces. |
| The seven – three men aged 57, 59 and 66, along with four women aged 58, 59, 59 and 61 – include Adams, who has always denied he gave the order to “disappear” the widowed mother of ten in 1972. | |
| Another of those believed to be among the seven is Bobby Storey, a senior Belfast republican and close aide to Adams. | Another of those believed to be among the seven is Bobby Storey, a senior Belfast republican and close aide to Adams. |
| The deputy director of public prosecutions, Pamela Atchison, said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect of each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.” | The deputy director of public prosecutions, Pamela Atchison, said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect of each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.” |
| The evidence that led to Adams’ arrest last year, as well as the other six, was partly based on the Boston College tapes. These were a series of recorded testimonies from IRA and loyalist paramilitary veterans that were to form a historic archive about the armed campaigns of the Troubles. | The evidence that led to Adams’ arrest last year, as well as the other six, was partly based on the Boston College tapes. These were a series of recorded testimonies from IRA and loyalist paramilitary veterans that were to form a historic archive about the armed campaigns of the Troubles. |
| Related: Northern Ireland police win latest round in battle to hear Boston College tapes | Related: Northern Ireland police win latest round in battle to hear Boston College tapes |
| The Police Service of Northern Ireland pursued taped interviews they claimed contained knowledge of the McConville murder and disappearance through the US courts system. But after examining files sent by the PSNI to the PPS in the case of the seven, including Adams, Atchison said there was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation. | The Police Service of Northern Ireland pursued taped interviews they claimed contained knowledge of the McConville murder and disappearance through the US courts system. But after examining files sent by the PSNI to the PPS in the case of the seven, including Adams, Atchison said there was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation. |
| She pointed out that there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014, and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of McConville, which the veteran Belfast republican strongly denies. | She pointed out that there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014, and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of McConville, which the veteran Belfast republican strongly denies. |
| “We have had a series of meetings with members of the family, most recently this morning, about all of our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to engage with them as we progress the prosecution of Ivor Bell. We thank them for the positive way that they have engaged with us at each stage of the process,” Atchison added. | “We have had a series of meetings with members of the family, most recently this morning, about all of our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to engage with them as we progress the prosecution of Ivor Bell. We thank them for the positive way that they have engaged with us at each stage of the process,” Atchison added. |
| Some of McConville’s children have said that if there is no means of pursuing Adams in the criminal courts they would consider a civil legal action against the Sinn Féin president. | Some of McConville’s children have said that if there is no means of pursuing Adams in the criminal courts they would consider a civil legal action against the Sinn Féin president. |
| Michael McConvile said the family were still consdering their options: “Those who ordered, planned and carried out this war crime thought that their guilt could disappear along with her body. But it has not and we will continue to seek justice for our mother and see those responsible held to account no matter how long it takes”. | Michael McConvile said the family were still consdering their options: “Those who ordered, planned and carried out this war crime thought that their guilt could disappear along with her body. But it has not and we will continue to seek justice for our mother and see those responsible held to account no matter how long it takes”. |
| The abduction, fatal shooting and covert burial of McConville, a 37-year-old Protestant who became a Catholic convert, has continued to haunt both Adams and the peace process. | The abduction, fatal shooting and covert burial of McConville, a 37-year-old Protestant who became a Catholic convert, has continued to haunt both Adams and the peace process. |
| In front of her children, at their home in the Divis flats complex, the west Belfast woman was dragged away by an IRA gang, driven across the border to the Irish Republic, shot in the head at a remote coastal spot in County Louth, and then buried in secret. | In front of her children, at their home in the Divis flats complex, the west Belfast woman was dragged away by an IRA gang, driven across the border to the Irish Republic, shot in the head at a remote coastal spot in County Louth, and then buried in secret. |
| Former IRA members including Adams’ former friend, the hunger striker Brendan Hughes, alleged the Sinn Féin president gave the order for McConville to be “disappeared” after she was shot as an informer. | Former IRA members including Adams’ former friend, the hunger striker Brendan Hughes, alleged the Sinn Féin president gave the order for McConville to be “disappeared” after she was shot as an informer. |
| Her family have always rejected any suggestion that she was a British army agent, pointing to an investigation by Northern Ireland’s former police ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, which found no evidence of their mother working as an informant. | Her family have always rejected any suggestion that she was a British army agent, pointing to an investigation by Northern Ireland’s former police ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, which found no evidence of their mother working as an informant. |
| Adams has consistently denied claims of involvement in the McConville murder or of ever being in the IRA. | Adams has consistently denied claims of involvement in the McConville murder or of ever being in the IRA. |
| Storey was and is a close confidant of Adams. The west Belfast republican veteran was named in parliament in 2005 as being the director of the IRA intelligence-gathering department at the time of the £26m 2004 Northern Bank robbery – the biggest cash theft in UK criminal history. | Storey was and is a close confidant of Adams. The west Belfast republican veteran was named in parliament in 2005 as being the director of the IRA intelligence-gathering department at the time of the £26m 2004 Northern Bank robbery – the biggest cash theft in UK criminal history. |
| When Adams was first arrested and questioned about the McConville murder in May 2014, Storey led the protests against his detention. Storey told a crowd of Sinn Féin supporters, gathered on the Falls Road in the heart of Adams’ old West Belfast constituency, that “we haven’t gone away you know” – an echo of the remarks the Sinn Féin president once made in the 1990s when he was challenged at a republican rally to “bring back the IRA”. | When Adams was first arrested and questioned about the McConville murder in May 2014, Storey led the protests against his detention. Storey told a crowd of Sinn Féin supporters, gathered on the Falls Road in the heart of Adams’ old West Belfast constituency, that “we haven’t gone away you know” – an echo of the remarks the Sinn Féin president once made in the 1990s when he was challenged at a republican rally to “bring back the IRA”. |
| After being released without charge earlier this month as part of the PSNI’s inquiries into the killing, in August, of ex-IRA gunman Kevin McGuigan, Storey headed a press conference in Belfast during which he claimed that the paramilitary organisation had gone away and no longer existed. | After being released without charge earlier this month as part of the PSNI’s inquiries into the killing, in August, of ex-IRA gunman Kevin McGuigan, Storey headed a press conference in Belfast during which he claimed that the paramilitary organisation had gone away and no longer existed. |