The author of a new book about the IRA today stood by his claims about Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams's alleged links with the organisation.
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Gerry Adams:accused author of writing lurid, spy thriller-to make money
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Mr Ed Moloney, author of a
A Secret History of the IRA
, also hit back at the Mr Adams's accusation that his work was motivated by making money.
Mr Moloney has alleged that as the IRA's Belfast commander in the early 1970s, Mr Adams set up a shadowy unit that abducted, murdered and secretly buried at least nine people. The claims provoked a furious denial from the Sinn Féin president.
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Insisting the journalist's allegations were outrageous, Mr Adams stressed he was never a member of the IRA.
But Mr Moloney today stood by everything written in his book. He said: "I think this is a bit sad in a way. . . . It's a residue from a period way back in the early 1980s when Sinn Féin first started to stand in elections.
"The first question always asked was 'Are you a member of the IRA?' To answer yes was to self incriminate and to end up in jail".
Mr Adams has accused the author of putting together a lurid, spy thriller-type of book in a bid to make money.
Although he admitted he had not spent four years writing and researching the book without hoping for healthy sales, Mr Moloney suggested Mr Adams was guilty of double standards.
Referring to the Sinn Féin president's own autobiography he said: "While I certainly got advances, without disclosing any figures, they are minuscule in comparison to the advances given to the author of Before The Dawn.
PA