Gerry Adams has welcomed the "emphatic end" of a High Court damages claim against him by three victims of Provisional IRA bombings and said the case "should never have been brought".
Today, the final day of a two-week trial, lawyers for the victims said the claim against the former Sinn Fein president had been "discontinued" with "no order as to costs".
John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London; Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim; and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, had sued Mr Adams for £1 in damages over allegations he was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its army council.
Mr Adams told the court in London he had "no involvement whatsoever" in the bombings and was never a member of the Provisional IRA, with his lawyers claiming the case should be thrown out as an abuse of the court system.
In a statement following today's announcement, Mr Adams said he attended the trial "out of respect" for the victims and to defend himself "against the smears and false accusations being levelled against me".
He said: "I asserted the legitimacy of the Republican cause and the right of the people of Ireland to freedom and self-determination. I do so again.
"During my two days of evidence, I categorically rejected all of the claims being made.
"I am glad to have been one of those who helped bring an end to the conflict.
"We now have, through the Good Friday Agreement, a peaceful and democratic route to a new Ireland.
"That needs a renewed focus, especially by the Irish Government.
"An Ireland that is respectful of all of its people and that is based on equality, tolerance and respect.
"I want to thank all of those who have expressed their solidarity with me and the Sinn Fein team which worked closely with me."
Watch: Gerry Adams says decision to drop claim brings 'emphatic end' to case
Speaking to the media in Belfast this afternoon, Mr Adams said he had "nothing but sympathy" for the claimants.
He said: "I was moved by the testimony of the two people, the two men, who came forward and told of their own personal difficulties and circumstances within the explosions and following the explosions.
"Family members of mine have been killed, I've been shot myself, so I know what it’s like."
He added: "At times it verged upon a show trial, anonymous secret agents of the British state hiding behind the screen, others who were up to their necks in the subversion that the British state visited upon people of this part of the island of Ireland.
"Many members of the intelligence services who have been found responsible for collusion and others not by anyone other than the British Government’s own commissions and inquiries and investigations."
Opening the trial earlier this month, barristers for the three victims said Mr Adams was "directly responsible for and complicit in those decisions made by that organisation to detonate bombs on the British mainland in 1973 and 1996".
Anne Studd KC told the court a "jigsaw" of evidence from those who knew Mr Adams and those who knew of him would prove the case against him.
But during his evidence, Mr Adams said he "categorically" denied the claims and "had no involvement in or advance knowledge of" the bombings.
Mr Adams’s barrister, Edward Craven KC, said the case against his client consisted of "high-level assertions, unsupported by detail" and should be dismissed for being brought too late.
Mr Craven also suggested the three victims were trying to have a "public inquiry-style" hearing into finding historical truths, which could be an abuse of the court system.
After a delay to the start of proceedings on today, Ms Studd told the court the case would be discontinued after "proceedings developed overnight".
She continued that the development was "related" to the argument around whether the claim was an "abuse of process".
The judge, Mr Justice Swift, said: "I am happy to make an order in the terms the parties have agreed."
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has criticised the civil action against Mr Adams as a "charade" which she said was a failed attempt by the British establishment to put Irish Republicanism in the dock.
"I think this was really a broader attempt by the British establishment to put Irish Republicanism in the dock, and their attempts failed," she said.
"Gerry went to London to defend his standing, his reputation but also to make his stand as a leader of Irish Republicanism and the the legitimate desire for the people of Ireland to live in a free and united Ireland.
"The case has collapsed at that speaks for itself, and I am just very, very happy that this whole charade has now concluded."
Claimants had 'no realistic option but to accept' offer to settle, lawyers say
Law firm McCue Jury and Partners, which represented the three claimants, said in a statement that its clients had shown "considerable courage" and the outcome "does not represent a victory for Mr Adams but the reverse".
It continued that Mr Adams had offered to settle the claim without the payment of damages, which the victims "had no realistic option but to accept" following what it described as an "extraordinary and, in our clients' view, unnecessary late intervention by the court".
The firm continued that allegations of an abuse of process had not arisen until yesterday, and that the issue had been "expressly disavowed" by a judge in a preliminary hearing in the claim.
"Nevertheless, throughout the trial, the defendant’s legal team wrongly and repeatedly implied that the claimants were treating the court as a vehicle for a form of public inquiry," the solicitors said in a statement.
It continued: "For whatever reasoning, the court unexpectedly directed at the final stages of the trial that it wished to consider whether the proceedings might amount to an abuse of process."
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