Gerry Adams under fire over ‘Slab’ support

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is under significant pressure to retract his support for convict Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy from across the political divide.

Tánaiste Joan Burton, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, and Renua Ireland leader Lucinda Creighton were all scathing in their criticism of Mr Adam’s failure to condemn Murphy in the wake of his conviction on nine charges of tax evasion.

In 2006, Mr Adams denied Murphy was a criminal, describing him as a “good Republican”, and on Thursday refused to comment in the wake of the judgment.

However, yesterday, there were widespread condemnation from the party leaders who said the Sinn Féin president must clarify whether he accepts the rule of law in this country.

A spokesman for Tánaiste Joan Burton told the Irish Examiner: “Deputy Adams now must clarify whether he supports and accepts the ruling of the court and the rule of law in Ireland”.

The comments come in the wake of Ms Burton’s heated exchanges with Sinn Féin deputies in the Dáil on Thursday, where she likened Pádraig MacLochlainn to a “bar-room brawler” and called him a disgrace.

Mr Martin was stinging in his criticism of Mr Adams saying when it comes to himself, he applies a different standard.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he said: “It was Deputy Adams who went out of his way to praise this individual when he was arrested and it was he who emphasised Mr Murphy’s closeness to the Sinn Féin ‘political project’.

“The fact that he cannot even now condemn Mr Murphy’s activities tells us all we need to know about Gerry Adams and the organisation he leads.

“Gerry Adams is rarely lost for words of condemnation when attacking others, but yet again we find that when it comes to one of his own, a very different standard is applied.

“Following closely the pattern we saw when Máiría Cahill and Paudie McGahon spoke out about their sexual abuse and subsequent cover ups, Deputy Adams seems simply unable to criticise wrongdoing when it takes place within his own organisation.”

Ms Creighton said Mr Adam’s statement was a clear sign as to why Sinn Fein are not fit for office: “I think Gerry Adams’ very vague and non-committal statement was very disappointing.

“It proves that Sinn Féin as a party is not fit for office. We saw in the report published two months ago that the IRA army council is still alive and directing the direction of the Sinn Féin party.

“For us, it is a very important mission that Sinn Féin is not part of the next government. It is not just because of their murky connections with criminal activity but also because their absolute hare-brained economic policies that would destroy the State.”

In response to the comments by Ms Creighton, a Sinn Féin spokesman said: “It is clear that Renua are desperate to make themselves relevant as the election approaches and they are still languishing on 1% in the opinion polls”.