Northern Ireland's First Minister has said the DUP would have tried to exclude Sinn Féin from government if it had not "corrected" its support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), after the republican party criticised police over the arrest and detention of its leader Gerry Adams.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness hinted Sinn Féin might have to review its support of the PSNI if Mr Adams was charged over the murder of Jean McConville in 1972. Despite this, when he was released on Sunday evening following four days of questioning, Mr Adams said he still supported the PSNI.

First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said they would have carried a motion for the exclusion of Sinn Féin at Stormont if the republican party had denounced its support for the PSNI. However despite Mr Robinson's claims, any motion to exclude Sinn Féin from parliament would require cross-party support.

Gerry Adams has always denied involvement in the murder of the Belfast mother-of-ten, who was killed and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. Her body was discovered on a beach in County Louth in 2003.

(CVS/IT)