THE Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, last night said he was amazed and disappointed at remarks made about his party by the SDLP MP, Dr Joe Hendron.
Interviewed on RTE's Prime Time last night, Dr Hendron, who took Mr Adams's seat in West Belfast at the last Westminster election described Sinn Fein as "a fascist organisation, and that's what I believe them to be, I also believe that they are a sectarian organisation as well".
He said the party was fascist "in terms of how they organise themselves, in terms of the leadership of Sinn Fein, and the IRA it's difficult to know who are the leaders and who are not".
Asked whether he would describe Mr Adams as fascist and sectarian, he said "The absolute blunt truth is that I don't know Gerry Adams. I've met him a number of times. I've found him to be a personable type of person."
He said he believed Mr Adams was genuine in trying to get a permanent peace", but that "some of the senior Sinn Fein leadership wear two hats". "I don't know who leads who, who the boss people are," he said.
He also believed that the leadership of the republican movement "have never forgiven me for beating their leader" in the last Westminster election, and recalled that following the murder of Philomena Hanna by loyalists, Sinn Fein supporters carried a banner saying that Joe Hendron's voters had murdered her. This was a reference to the votes he had got on the Shankill Road.
Mr Adams said in a statement "I am perplexed and amazed at Joe Hendron's comments. His remarks are both an insult to this party, but also to the tens of thousands who support Sinn Fein.
"I am confident that people know and appreciate the efforts and risks Sinn Fein has taken for peace in recent years, and I'm sure they share with me a deep sense of disappointment that Dr Hendron has seen fit to make accusations which can only give succour to those opposed to any efforts to restore the peace process.