Former Sinn Féin leader denies claim made in 2016 documentary he sanctioned 2006 killing of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson

It is a small, compact courtroom with a digital clock that glows beneath the judge’s bench, but the evidence unfurled in the case of Gerry Adams versus the BBC is expansive and spans decades of Irish and British history.

The former Sinn Féin leader’s childhood and political awakening, the evolution of the Troubles, the IRA’s deadly campaign, the peace process, the murder of a British spy, all have been outlined – and contested – in the libel hearing at Dublin’s high court.