Image source, Reuters

After five weeks of evidence and almost seven hours of jury deliberations, the trial of Adams v BBC has ended.

Here's a recap of today's proceedings:

• Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams won his libel case against the BBC and is awarded €100,000 (£84,000) in damages.
• The trial at the High Court in Dublin heard evidence from 10 witnesses, including Mr Adams and BBC NI reporter Jennifer O'Leary.

• The jury found that words used in the programme and accompanying online article meant that Mr Adams sanctioned and approved the killing of British agent Denis Donaldson.
• They also found that the BBC did not report the allegations in good faith.

• Outside court Adams claimed the BBC was "out of sync" with the Good Friday Agreement, the trial should have been dealt with a long time ago, as well as saying that he was mindful of the Donaldson family, who have had to watch all of this.
• BBC NI director Adam Smyth says the BBC is disappointed and believes it supplied extensive evidence of the careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence applied to the programme and accompanying article.
• Smyth added that the implications were "profound" and that the BBC's legal team warned the decision could "hinder freedom of expression".

We're ending our live coverage for today. You can read more on the BBC News NI page by clicking here.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent

The legal bill for Gerry Adams versus the BBC is believed to be between €3-5m (£2.5m-4.2m), according to sources with knowledge of the case.

It is understood to have been one of the most expensive cases the corporation has ever fought.

There was a trial lasting five weeks at the High Court in Dublin, involving four senior counsel, two on each side.

Three rows of benches in court 24 were at times occupied by up to 14 barristers and solicitors.

One of those acting for the BBC, Paul Gallagher, is a former Irish Attorney General and reportedly one of the country’s highest-paid barristers.

There has not only been a lengthy trial, but also a number of preliminary court hearings.

Jury trials are usually longer – and therefore more expensive – than those held in front of a judge acting alone.

Ireland is in the process of overhauling its defamation laws, including the elimination of jury trials in High Court defamation cases.

In Northern Ireland, there has been “a presumption against jury trials” in libel cases since 2022.

Speaking after the outcome BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth said the corporation stands by its decision to fight the case.

No reaction in court as verdict givenpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 30 May

13:55 BST 30 May

Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent

Gerry Adams sat in the back corner of the courtroom as the verdict was announced, with his arms folded and legs crossed.

BBC staff were just in front of him, on a bench.

They included BBC NI Director Adam Smyth, reporter Jennifer O’Leary, and Spotlight editor Gwyneth Jones.

After the jury of seven men and four women filed into the court, Mr Justice Alexander Owens asked the foreman to hand him the issue paper – the list of five questions which had been given to the jury to help them decide the outcome.

He read the one-word answers to the questions – “yes” to the first two, and “no” to the second pair – which indicated that the former Sinn Féin president had won the case.

He then told the court what the jury had written in response to the fifth question – they had awarded Adams damages of €100,000 (£84,000).

There was no noticeable reaction from anyone who had been involved in the lengthy case.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent, reporting from Dublin

While not the €200,000 (£168,000) settlement Adams was seeking, he has still been awarded a significant sum of €100,000 (£84,000).

Adams says he will donate the money to "good causes".

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent, reporting from Dublin

Mr Justice Alexander Owens blocked the BBC from calling three people as witnesses, including Denis Donaldson’s daughter.

Legal arguments were held in the absence of jurors, so it could not be reported before now.

Jane Donaldson followed proceedings daily on video link.

Late in the trial, she wanted to testify.

However, the judge ruled what she intended to say was irrelevant in respect of what the jury had to consider.

The BBC also wanted to call Austin Stack, whose father Brian, a prison officer, was fatally wounded in an IRA gun attack in Dublin in 1983.

It also attempted to call Eunan O’Halpin, a professor of contemporary Irish history at Trinity College, Dublin.

BBC NI Spotlight reporter Jennifer O'Leary also spoke outside the court in Dublin.

Watch back to what she had to say.

The BBC Spotlight NI programme was produced and broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland and the online article was published in Northern Ireland.

Defamation cases can be brought before courts wherever the content is available.

Gerry Adams brought the case in Dublin as the programme was able to be watched in Ireland, where it was seen by about 16,000 people.

He was a member of the Irish parliament at the time.

The online article had approximately 700 hits in Ireland during a 14-month period after publication in September 2016.

Daniel Logan
BBC News NI

Image source, PA Media

The BBC Spotlight NI programme at the centre of this case was first aired on BBC One Northern Ireland on 20 September 2016.

The programme contained an interview alleging Gerry Adams sanctioned Denis Donaldson’s murder.

The former Sinn Féin president always denied the allegation made in the episode by an anonymous contributor called Martin, accusing him of giving the go-ahead for Denis Donaldson's killing in 2006.

The BBC claims his allegation was supported by five other sources.

Spotlight NI claimed the murder was carried out by the Provisional IRA, although the dissident group the Real IRA admitted responsibility three years later.

The reporter on the programme, Jennifer O'Leary, gave evidence at the High Court in Dublin as part of the trial.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent - Reporting from Dublin

Image source, PA Media

Gerry Adams versus the BBC was one of the most high-profile and expensive courtroom showdowns in recent Irish legal history.

Two parties who needed no introduction – the figurehead of Irish republicanism against a UK media institution.

Sources with knowledge of the case believe the bill is between €3-5m.

Why Dublin?

Adams was able to bring proceedings to Dublin as the 2016 Spotlight programme which contained the allegation was seen by an estimated 16,000 viewers in the Republic of Ireland.

At the time he was a member of the Irish parliament for Louth.

The accompanying online story was also able to be read south of the border – it had about 700 page views.

It is also fair to speculate, Adams calculated he had a better chance of winning with an Irish jury with little or no memory of The Troubles.

What happened in court?

The former Sinn Féin leader spent longer in the witness chair than any of the other nine people who testified.

His evidence spread across the first seven days – in contrast Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary spent three days in the hot seat.

At one point Adams reminded a barrister for the BBC: “I’m not on trial here.”

Image source, PA Media

‘Polarising figure’

As one of his own barristers put it, Adams is “a polarising” figure.

To that end, each side had prepared its own video presentation, a life story in two chapters if you like.

The BBC showed the jury a montage of news reports of IRA attacks, interspersed with clips of Adams justifying its actions.

“What’s this got to do with Spotlight?”, he asked more than once during cross-examination.

As he has all his life, Adams again denied ever having been in the IRA, or being a leading figure on its army council until 2005.

His lawyers’ video covered the 1990s onwards, depicting Adams as peacemaker, with Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and the future King Charles III.

This, they claimed, was the reputation defamed by the BBC in 2016.

Whatever the verdict was going to be, the five week trial has renewed the debate around Adams.

His continues to be a past that hasn’t gone away.

This case was all about a BBC Spotlight NI programme broadcast in 2016.

In it, and the accompanying online article, an anonymous source alleged Gerry Adams sanctioned the murder of a British agent, Denis Donaldson.

The BBC argued the words were clearly allegations, but Adams says they were presented as fact.

After five weeks of evidence, the jury had five questions to answer:

• The first was whether the words in the programme "mean Mr Adams sanctioned and approved Denis Donaldson's murder".
• The second was the same but in relation to the online article - they answered yes to both.
• The third and fourth questions related to whether or not the BBC reported the allegations in good faith - the answer to these was no.
• The fifth question was about money - how much should Adams be awarded? The jury settled on €100,000 (£84,000) in damages.

As we've been reporting, Gerry Adams spoke outside court following his win.

Watch back what he had to say below:

You can watch BBC Talkback live by pressing play at the top of this page.

Guests will debate and discuss today's decision.

Discussing the trial is DUP MP Gregory Campbell, John Manley of the Irish News, author and journalist Malachi O 'Doherty and criminal justice professor John Silverman.

Image source, PA Media

Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary gives a particular thanks to Ann Travers, who gave evidence on behalf of the BBC, saying she "spoke so courageously".

Ann Travers is a high-profile victims campaigner in Northern Ireland. Her sister Mary was murdered by the IRA in 1984.

"There are thousands of Ann Travers across this island and in Britain, victims and survivors of the Troubles, and in the years of violence after the peace agreement, and those people carry the burden of their grief and trauma with incredible dignity and courage, and they are people I am thinking of."

Image source, Reuters

Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary was next to speak to the waiting press.

She thanked her legal team for defending the BBC’s journalism and says that she has "nothing to hide, only sources to protect".

BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth continues, thanking those involved in the programme, everyone who gave evidence on behalf of the BBC, as well as their legal team for "their unwavering support".

"We will now take time to consider the implications of this ruling."

Image source, Reuters

BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth is still speaking to reporters, and now addresses the financial complexities of the case.

"A case of this importance, duration, and complexity invokes significant expense, in common with other media organisations, the BBC has insurance and makes financial provisions for ongoing and anticipated legal claims."

Smyth says that if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, then it would be hard for any case to be won.

He adds that the BBC's legal team warned that today's decision would “hinder freedom of expression”.

Smyth thanks the jury for their "diligence and careful consideration of the issues in this case".

"The implications of their decision, though, are profound".

Image source, Reuters

More now from the director of BBC Northern Ireland, Adam Smyth: "We didn't want to come to court, but it was important that we defend our journalism, and we stand by that decision."