Adams Rejects IRA Chief Accusation

Gerry Adams has reiterated his rejection of senior IRA membership allegations published in a book.

On the day that the daughter of a Protestant woman murdered by the IRA revealed she is planning a civil action against the Sinn Fein President over his alleged role in her mother's disappearance, the veteran republican has again denied his alleged top role in the IRA.

Journalist Ed Moloney's book, 'Voices from the Grave' claims the Sinn Fein boss ordered the killing and secret burial of mother of 10, Jean McConville, in 1972.

Now, as her daughter Helen McKendry said she would pursue Mr Adams in the courts, MP Gerry Adams said: "This book appears to be a reprint of Moloney's previous book with the addition of interviews with Brendan Hughes.

"Mr Moloney and his colleague Anthony McIntyre have a long history of opposing the Sinn Fein peace strategy," he fumed, on Monday.

"They have written books and countless articles attacking me the Sinn Fein leadership, and in its time the IRA leadership, for taking political initiatives and charting a path out of conflict to peace," Mr Adams said, noting that he knew the late IRA man Brendan Hughes well.

"He wasn't well and hadn't been for a very long time, including during the time he did these interviews.

"He also carried with him an enormous sense of guilt over events surrounding the first hunger strike. However, that is no excuse for his involvement in this book," he continued, noting that Mr Hughes also opposed the IRA cessations and the peace process.

Categorically, Mr Adams said: "I reject any suggestion that I have ever sought to distance myself from the IRA.

"Anyone who recalls the years of conflict and the countless interviews I gave and still give, in which this issue is raised, will know that I was the person most frequently interviewed about the IRA and who defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle during the time of war.

"I also praised the IRA for its courageous decisions to accept a political alternative and to sue for peace.

"I reject absolutely any accusation that I had any hand or part in the killing and disappearing of Jean McConville or in any of the other allegations that are being promoted by Ed Moloney.

"The issue of the disappeared is a terrible legacy of the conflict. A grievous wrong has been done to these families," he insited.

See: Adams On Rack Over IRA

(BMcC/GK)