Gerry Adams says Bono’s claims the IRA targeted the U2 singer and his wife are ‘news to me’

Gerry Adams has responded to claims made in Bono’s new book that he and his wife were targeted by the IRA.

Adams, 74, from Belfast, the former Sinn Fein leader, said in his column in this week’s Andersonstown News: ‘I understand from press reports that he says his wife Ali and he were targets for the IRA. 

‘That’s news to me and I’m sure to anyone else close to republican thinking back in the day.’

But he called Bono’s commentary on the conflict in Ireland shrill, ill-informed and unhelpful although he said he admires the work he has done in highlighting issues of social injustice around the world. 

Adams stated that Bono’s reaction to the conflict was not something that he was on his own with.

He said that he echoed the Irish establishment line, which he said was the ‘wrong line’ for decades.

Adams added: ‘A failure of governance and the abandonment of responsibility to lead a process of peace and justice.’

The 74-year-old said that things changed but it took a long time and went on to quote U2 song lyrics, saying that people got through it all ‘with or without you.’

Adams, 74, from Belfast, pictured in 2019, the former Sinn Fein leader, addressed Bono’s allegations in his column in this week’s Andersonstown News. The 74-year-old said: ‘I understand from press reports that he says his wife Ali and he were targets for the IRA. That’s news to me and I’m sure to anyone else close to republican thinking back in the day’

Frontman of Irish rock band U2, Bono attends the launch of the Scholas Occurrentes International Movement at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, Italy, 19 May 2022 

Adams also revealed that he does not hate Bono in the column, like the 62-year-old has previously said. 

And he added that he thinks hate is a ‘wasted negative emotion’, saying that it is Paul who hates Bono and not him.

According to the Irish Independent, he went on to say that Bono was mixing him up with someone else. 

But Adams went on to write about what he does detest, including imperialism, greed and cruelty.

In his upcoming memoir ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story’, out November 1, the Irish superstar discusses how the threat of violence plagued the band, with figures such as Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams making sinister statements about the consequences of their pro-peace message

File photo dated 04/12/94 of Gerry Adams when he was Sinn Fein president 

His denial of the claims comes after Bono first spoke about the ‘threat of violence’ that plagued the band at The Times and Sunday Times Literature festival earlier this month.

He claimed that figures such as Adams had made sinister statements about the consequences of their pro-peace message.

And Bono said that he was warned by authorities that his wife Ali was a likely target of the IRA amid rumblings that ‘U2’s opposition to paramilitaries had cost the IRA valuable fundraising in the US.’

The father of four also claimed that a ‘famous gangland leader in Dublin had been planning to kidnap [his daughters], that [the gangster’s] people had been casing our houses for several months and developed an elaborate plan.’

Ali Hewson, Bono of U2, Eve Hewson and Jordan Hewson attend ‘Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark’ Broadway opening night at Foxwoods Theatre on June 14, 2011 in New York City

Photo of BONO and U2; Bono performing live onstage at the US Festival in San Bernardino

Bono recounted one particular heart-pounding moment he had on stage in Arizona in the 1980s.

Ahead of a performance of their hit song ‘Pride’ – a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr – the band had come under fire for speaking out against the then-governor’s resistance to having a memorial day for the famed civil rights icon. 

The frontman claimed they received a threat which promised that he would be assassinated before the end of the song if he were to sing the verse detailing King’s shooting.

Bono told The Times he had ‘got all messianic on myself’ and half-knelt to sing the key verse.

‘I then realised the gravity of the situation and I did close my eyes. It was a slim possibility [of being assassinated] but just in case.’

He then opened his eyes to find that his bass guitarist Adam Clayton had stood squarely in front of him throughout the entire verse to protect him from any shots from the crowd. 

Bono’s latest book Surrender is set to be released next month.

March 20, 1981: Irish rock band U2 on their first U.S. tour pose backstage March 20, 1981 at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco, California. Left to right: Adam Clayton, Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr

Irish singer-songwriter, musician, philanthropist and lead singer of U2, Bono, performs their song ‘MLK’ at the Grand Circus Theatre, aka the Detroit Opera House, during their War Tour, on May 20, 1983, in Detroit, Michigan

Earlier this month, Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, opened up about his marriage to wife Ali. 

He appeared at the New Yorker Festival at The Society For Ethical Culture in New York City, where he spoke about his forthcoming memoir at The Society For Ethical Culture, People reported.

Bono was asked by a member in the audience who said they are a newlywed, asking him for insight on how he’s maintained his four-decade union with Hewson, 61.

The Grammy-winning rocker responded: ‘It is a grand madness about us. And there’s something about knowing that you’re going against the odds.

‘But I would say if you ask me seriously, friendship can outpace romantic love, sometimes. And friendship is what myself and Ali have. When you have romantic love and friendship, that’s really something special.’

The latest: Bono, 62, has opened up about his marriage to wife Ali Hewson, as the U2 frontman, 62, appeared at the New Yorker Festival Friday at The Society For Ethical Culture in NYC 

The Grammy-winning rocker and his longtime spouse were snapped at the Sarajevo Film Festival last year 

The couple, who first met at Dublin, Ireland’s Mount Temple Comprehensive School 50 years ago – and celebrated their 40th anniversary this past August – are parents to four adult children: Jordan, 33, Eve, 31, Elijah, 23, and John, 21.

Bono noted how he and his spouse complement one another and are there for each other amid tough times.

‘Any time either of us got lost, the other would… be there to get the other one home,’ he said. ‘And I’m so grateful. And 40 years is a powerful number for me. That’s a powerful number for Ali. And it was brilliant when we got to 40, and we went, ”Let’s not f*** this up now.”

Bono also touched on his long stint with his bandmates (The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.), saying their decision to evenly split up their finances was ‘the best thing ever.’

‘And those songs are made what they are because of Edge, Adam, and Larry. And I think Edge feels the same. You know, we’re the lead songwriters. But Adam will come up with an incredible bassline, or Larry will come up with an amazing beat… our manager used to say to us, ”You know, it’s not musical differences that break up most bands. It’s the moolah.” He said, ”Get that right.”