Gerry Adams, the former President of Sinn Féin who was awarded €100k in his libel action against the BBC last week, issued an update on Thursday, June 5, following his victory.
In the statement and video released via Sinn Féin on Thursday, Adams said that he will donate the damages awarded to him last week to "good causes."
The causes, Adams said, "will include the children of Gaza, groups in Ireland involved in helping the homeless, An Cumann Cabhrach [Republican Aid Committee], the Irish language sector, and other projects like this in West Belfast."
Adams, 76, sought damages after a BBC "Spotlight" programme, citing an anonymous source, claimed Adams ordered the March 2006 killing of Denis Donaldson, a former senior member of Sinn Féin who later confessed to being a British spy.
The day after the "Spotlight" programme aired in September 2016, an article with the headline "Gerry Adams sanctioned Denis Donaldson killing" was published on the BBC website.
Adams denies sanctioning the killing of Donaldson; the dissident Republican group the Real IRA later claimed responsibility.
After seven hours of deliberations, the Dublin jury of 11 people decided in Adams' favor last week, awarding him €100,000 in damages.
Speaking to reporters after the jury's decision, Adams said in part: "From my perspective, taking this case was about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation."
The comment made headlines and was used as the title of his update that was issued on Thursday.
"I stand over that comment," Adams said in his update, adding, "And I reject the over the top responses to it."
Adams further said on Thursday that there is an "onus on the BBC to reflect on the changes that have occurred since the Good Friday Agreement.
"This isn’t the same place as it was then.
"Adam Smyth [Director of BBC Northern Ireland] should begin a process of changing the ethos of the BBC to make it reflect the new dispensation and the potential that the peace process has delivered.
"There have also been the predictable responses from all the usual suspects to the verdict in this case.
"This is not the time, although this is what they do, to defend bad journalism.
"This is the time to learn the lessons.
"They need to stop whinging.
"This is senior hurling.
"All of us need to face up to the new dispensation and build on the progress that has been made."
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