Gerry Adams Quotes

One man's transparency is another's humiliation.

In the past I have defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle. I did so because there was no alternative for those who would not bend the knee, or turn a blind eye to oppression, or for those who wanted a national republic.

For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms.

Armed struggle is a necessary and morally correct form of resistance in the Six Counties against a government whose presence is rejected by the vast majority of the Irish people There are those who tell us that the British government will not be moved by armed struggle. As has been said before, the history of Ireland and of British colonial involvement throughout the world tells us that they will not be moved by anything else.

Making peace, I have found, is much harder than making war.

It will always be a battle a day between those who want maximum change and those who want to maintain the status quo.

The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever.

It might or might not be right to kill, but sometimes it is necessary.

There can be no such things as an Irish nationalist accepting the loyalist veto and partition. You cannot claim to be an Irish nationalist if you consent to an internal six county settlement and if you are willing to negotiate the state of Irish society with a foreign government.

Your determination, selflessness and courage have brought the freedom struggle towards its fulfillment.

If you militarise a situation, you beg for an armed response.

When others stood idly by, you and your families gave your all, in defence of a risen people and in pursuit of Irish freedom and unity.

No Irish nationalist could support any treaty which institutionalizes British government claims to a part of Irish national territory. Indeed, the term - 'constitutional nationalism'- used by Mr.Mallon (SDLP) and his colleagues to describe their political philosophy is a contradiction in terms. The only constitutional nationalist in Ireland today is Sean McBride. He puts his nationalism within a framework of Irish constitutionality. Mr. Mallon, however, puts his within the framework of British constitutionality. Irish nationalism within British constitutionality is a contradiction in terms.

Once water charges are in place they will only go up. This has been the history of all these charges

I stopped buying Sunday papers about 15 years ago, because you'd buy handfuls of them, and what you got, because the hard news comes from so many other channels, was opinion pieces. You're better off spending the money on a good novel.

Hugging trees has a calming effect on me. I'm talking about enormous trees that will be there when we are all dead and gone. I've hugged trees in every part of this little island.

A real possibility now exists for a Government that is not led by either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil

I think the worst kind of grief is unacknowledged grief.

The way forward is by building political support for republican and democratic objectives across Ireland and by winning support for these goals internationally.

Sinn Fein has demonstrated the ability to play a leadership role as part of a popular movement towards peace, equality and justice.

I nominate the Reverend Ian Paisley for the position of First Minister of northern Ireland

When I wrote 'Before The Dawn,' I made it quite clear that there are lots of people involved in my life who I can't talk about simply because I'd put them at risk.

The last months, weeks and days have seen accelerating discussions, involving the DUP for the first time, about a comprehensive agreement which would see all outstanding matters dealt with and the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full.

Sinn Fein has the potential and capacity to become the vehicle for the attainment of republican objectives.

But I also hold the very strong view that republicans need to lead by example.

Republican patience with how unionism deals with the political institutions, and with key issues like equality and human rights, will be tested because, obviously, there will be a battle a day on these matters. So lets face up to all of this with our eyes wide open.

The Good Friday Agreement and the basic rights and entitlements of citizens that are enshrined within it must be defended and actively promoted by London and Dublin.

We have to make sure the Good Friday Agreement works.

I was leaving the Belfast court, where I had been called to answer a very flimsy charge, later dismissed. You're relatively safe in such areas in the Irish community, but to go to downtown Belfast for me is dangerous. My appearance in court had been well advertised by the police. I think it was too much of a coincidence that the people who shot me were just passing by.

The Irish Republican Army has kept every commitment made by its leadership.

The unionists also for their part, want to minimise the potential for change, not only on the equality agenda but on the issues of sovereignty and ending the union.

Sinn Fein has productively taken the example of South Africa and, as we develop the peace process, we continue to use examples from South Africa.

Peace cannot be built on exclusion. That has been the price of the past 30 years.

I think there is a huge responsibility upon governments to understand the consequence of their decisions.

We can be revisionist, and that's a good thing to be at times, but we shouldn't airbrush our history, so we can only make judgments in the objective conditions of that time.

You can only judge anything that happened in the times, in the times that that happened.

It's hard to think of a 16-month child being anything other than a delight to be around.

It's been a long time coming but the reality is that this process is at a crossroads.

For good or ill, I'm a person of leadership. I do my best. I don't dodge responsibility.

War some people glamorise war and glorify war. It's not nice, from whatever point of view you come from.

There needs to be nationalist and republican confidence in unionism.

I like to think I'm very grounded. I'm very grounded in my family. I'm very grounded in my community.