Adams tries to play down IRA robbery comments

GERRY ADAMS attempted last night to play down his own admission that the IRA may have carried out the €38 million Northern Bank raid.

The Sinn Féin president sparked a fresh furore when he said in an interview in Spain with a Madrid radio station that he believed the IRA when it said it was not behind the December 20 heist, before conceding: "But maybe I am wrong."

Coming on top of the IRA distancing itself from the brutal murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney, the Republican movement was perceived to be reeling from the pressure of the sustained focus on its criminal activities.