Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man

An intimate portrait of Irish republican leader, Gerry Adams, one of the most important political leaders of our time, he led the people of the North of Ireland from conflict to peace.

Irish republican leader, Gerry Adams is one of the most important political leaders and visionaries of our time, he led the people of the North of Ireland from conflict to peace, (1968-1994). Adams was a critical voice in the decision taken independently by the IRA to lay down their arms after their twenty-five-year war against the British. Imprisoned and shot, Adams was demonized and censored by dominant media as a subversive and terrorist – yet in the end the British and their allies were forced to recognize his legitimacy and negotiate with him and his party Sinn Féin, the Irish peace accord, ‘The Good Friday Agreement’. Adams speaks of the influence both personally and for the Irish republican movement of the ANC and Nelson Mandela and how they took the blueprint for ‘peace and reconciliation’ in South Africa and adapted it in their own transition to peace in Ireland. An intensely private man always protecting his family from the public eye, this is the first time, Adams sits down to tell his story, interwoven with the story of the conflict he lived through as a teenage activist, to becoming party leader, and political representative, and internationally recognized and respected leader. Today he is an elder statesman supporting the next generations on their peaceful and inclusive path toward Irish unity.