The curious case of Gerry Adams’ tickets

I don’t think young people truly grasp the controversy and hysteria that Sinn Fein provoked in certain parts of the UK and indeed Ireland. During its most acute stage, the voices of the leaders of the Sinn Fein party were censored in both Ireland and the UK as a result of a broadcasting ban and men like Gerry Adams were viewed as nefarious figures whose wickedness was only deserving of a poor overdubbing.

Sightings

Mere sightings of Adams at this time caused disquiet, as evidenced in a letter sent by Derek Hannon, then serving as part of the Irish delegation to the Holy See before he eventually held the role of Ambassador to the Holy See between 2018 and 2022, to then-Irish Ambassador to the Holy See Brendan Dillon in October 1988.

The letter, which was initially sent to highlight the Holy See’s apparent “impatience” with Ireland for having not yet sent President Patrick Hillery on an official visit to the Holy See, nor expressing any desire to do so in the near future, mentioned that a certain Mr Adams, then-president of Sinn Fein and suspected member of the Irish Republican Army, had travelled to St Peter’s in Rome for the Beatification of Blessed Charles of Mount Argus.

Nothing untoward here, one would seem – anyone is entitled to walk into the Vatican and observe the surrounds. But like any detective novel worth its salt, there was a twist. According to Fr Brian Farrell (brother of Cardinal Kevin and a man who was later appointed bishop himself) the area that Adams was seated in was an area where admission was by ticket only and Fr Farrell was keen on tracing the source of the tickets. Who within the Church gave the tickets? Cue some scrambling.

The suspense lasted all of three days as Ambassador Dillon writing to Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs Noel Dorr, presumably after some sleuthing, reported that they had identified the person responsible for the transfer of the tickets to Adams and that this information was given up “voluntarily” – no need for a process of interrogation, so.

Beatification

Remarkably the person behind Gerry Adams’ excellent seat at the beatification was no other than Monsignor Sean Brady, later cardinal, Rector of the Irish College in Rome who said that Adams personally asked him for the tickets and “he saw no reason to refuse”. A perfectly valid reason, but one that merits acknowledgement given the context in which it occurred. It demonstrated a level of restrained engagement with certain people in an era where it was notably absent.

Concluding the letter Ambassador Dillon pointedly said that “it is none of my business to tell Fr Farrell where the tickets came from” and that “he must surely guess”.