Sinn Féin chief stands by IRA's denials

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams was last night standing by his party's view that the IRA was innocent of the Northern Bank raid.

While gardaí questioned former Sinn Féin General Election candidate Tom Hanlon about money laundering along with six other people following raids in Cork and Dublin, the West Belfast MP cautioned that people should not rush to judge republicans over the arrests.

Mr Adams, who is preparing to return to Ireland from Spain where he had been on a book tour and meeting Basque and Catalan leaders, said he had no reason to disbelieve the IRA's repeated denials about its involvement in the Northern Bank raid.