McConville daughter to fight Adams
Helen McKendry, one of murdered Jean McConville’s 10 children, and her husband Seamus said they are planning to stand in the Co Louth constituency solely to prevent Mr Adams from entering Leinster House.
The Sinn Féin president was named in a posthumous statement by former Provisional IRA Belfast commander Brendan ‘Darkie’ Hughes in the book Voices From The Grave last year as the man who ordered the 1972 kidnapping and murder of Ms McConville.
The body of the 38-year-old widow, which was dumped in an unmarked grave, was missing until it was located on Templetown Beach in Co Louth in 2003.
She was taken from her Divis Flats complex in west Belfast over claims she was a British informer, claims her family denies.
Mr Adams, who initially falsely claimed he was in prison at the time of the incident, has always insisted he had “no hand or part in the killing and disappearing” of Ms McConville.
However, despite the denial, Seamus McKendry said either he or his wife Helen will run as an independent candidate in the same Dáil constituency as Mr Adams to highlight his alleged involvement.
“It is quite cynical to think he is running in the same constituency where they buried Jean,” he told a Sunday newspaper.
“They probably think Louth is a safe enough seat. Hopefully people won’t be gullible enough to give him [Mr Adams] a vote,” he added.
Mr Adams’ decision to run as a Dáil candidate for his party has been steeped in controversy since it was announced.
In December, US diplomatic cables leaked to the WikiLeaks organisation raised further questions over whether Mr Adams knew of the notorious Northern Bank robbery before it happened. The documents said then taoiseach Bertie Ahern believed he had “rock solid evidence” from reliable sources that Mr Adams and Northern Ireland deputy first minister Martin McGuinness were aware of plans for the December 2004 €31 million heist.
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