RARE APOLOGY

Sinn Féin Leader ‘Sorry’ About 1979 Killing of Prince Philip’s Uncle

A change of position after former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams refused to apologize for the bomb attack in a 2015 meeting with Prince Charles.

Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Irish political party Sinn Féin, told the Irish Times Radio that she is “sorry” for the 1979 Irish Republican Army bomb attack that killed Lord Louis Mountbatten as well as three others. Lord Mountbatten, as well as his grandson, the boy’s maternal grandmother, and a 15-year-old boy were killed when an explosive device planted by a member of the IRA detonated aboard their boat while on a fishing trip off the northwestern coast of Ireland. McDonald's comments came shortly after the funeral of Prince Philip, Lord Mountbatten’s nephew. During a 2015 meeting with Prince Charles, then-Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams indicated that he stood by prior comments that Lord Mountbatten “knew the danger” when he came to Ireland, making McDonald’s statement a notable reversal for the IRA-associated political party.