Sinn Féin leadership is ardchomhairle elected democratically every year - Adams

Sinn Féin is accountable only to the electorate, party leader Gerry Adams has insisted in the Dáil. The party was not subject to any other institution or group, he said.

Mr Adams’s comments follow the publication of British government and Garda reports on paramilitarism.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Sinn Féin needed to address the findings “that an army council now controls the Sinn Féin party”.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the fundamental question for the State “is the threat to democracy from an organisation that is involved with politics but which retains a military structure, with an active intelligence-gathering department and access to weaponry”.

The Taoiseach said Sinn Féin had been under some scrutiny in respect of claims of illegality and illegal activity, and “in respect of safe houses, sexual abuse and property-based programmes indicating access to extraordinary levels of finance”.

Mr Kenny added that he had never believed the Sinn Féin leader when he said he was never a member of the IRA.

“Statements to the effect that the IRA has gone away or left the stage are simply not credible,” the Taoiseach said.

Accountable

But Mr Adams said that, like all parties, Sinn Féin was accountable to the electorate.

“Our leadership is the ardchomhairle and is elected democratically annually at our ardfheis. And we’re not accountable to any other group or organisation,” he said.

Stressing that Sinn Féin “is totally and absolutely opposed to criminality of all kinds”, Mr Adams said the party had paid a price for standing with the community and with the police services against criminality.

“My home has been regularly targeted with bomb alerts. I and other Sinn Féin representatives are under active death threats. That’s a matter of fact,” he said.

“We’ve had property attacks. We have had one young man blinded in one eye, Frank McCabe jnr, because of our party’s and his family’s stand against criminality.”

He said: “We put our lives on the line against those who are engaging in the name of republicanism, and others who are engaging in criminality.”

Targeted

The Taoiseach accepted that Mr Adams was the target of intimidation and attempted assault and “I have condemned that unreservedly”.

Mr Kenny said he had an open mind on the issue of a “revamped or different joint agency resourced by both governments to deal with criminality in all its forms”. If it was agreed during the current Northern talks, he said he would not oppose it.

Blind eye

Mr Martin had highlighted court proceedings linked to the Northern Ireland bank robbery, which had involved Sinn Féin members.

He said that “we cannot turn a blind eye to this”.

The Fianna Fáil leader asked: “Are people absolutely certain that the organised crime that’s been going on by alleged individual republicans is not finding its way into the political party?”

Mr Kenny agreed and said the issue of funding would have to be addressed in the talks.