1984 Revisited: Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams shot by loyalists
Burning Buses at Andersonstown after Gerry Adams was shot and wounded in March 1984.
Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams was shot and wounded by gunmen, who struck as he drove away from a Belfast court during the lunchtime recess.
The West Belfast MP and four other men were in a car riddled with bullets from automatic weapons from a car which pulled alongside them in Howard Street, behind Belfast City Hall. Mr Adams, 35, was hit in the neck, shoulder and arm.
The attack happened on one of the few days when it was known where Mr Adams would be — in court. Normally, his movements are cloaked in secrecy and he lives a well-protected life in Republican strongholds.
This is part of the Irish Examiner's 1984 series which is going online this week from Monday, January 1. The series is also published in the 'Irish Examiner' in print and ePaper from Tuesday.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the outlawed Ulster Freedom Fighters terrorist group — long thought to be a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association.
In a statement issued hours after the shooting, the UFF claimed Mr Adams was “responsible for the continuing murder campaign being waged against Ulster protestants and is therefore regarded as a legitimate target of war”.
Trouble erupted in republican areas after the shooting. The old home of former MP Gerry Fitt — now Lord Fitt — in the Antrim Road was set alight, but the blaze was quickly put out.
Lord Fitt was ousted as West Belfast MP by Mr Adams last summer, and the house has been described as derelict following an attack on it shortly after the election.
There were reports of buses being stoned in other Republican areas and of at least one being hijacked and set alight.
Tánaiste Dick Spring, in a reaction to the shooting, said he was saddened at yet another outbreak of violence and called on all sides once again to denounce violence and to work towards a peaceful resolution to the problems of this island.
In Washington, the Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, in a brief statement, said “violence has once again been employed for political ends in Northern Ireland. There are no circumstances which can justify acts of violence of this kind.”
The Rev Ian Paisley said in Strasbourg: “He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword.”
