Adams: I will lead Sinn Féin into next election

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has vowed that the party’s MEPs will "stand up for the people of Ireland in Europe" and that he will lead the party into the general election.

Describing himself as a “team player”, he said that the party “does not want to be in government for the sake of being in government” and that they would only go into government if they believed they could fulfill their mandate.

He said if Fine Gael and Labour now begin “to lessen the burden”, it will be in response to the “process of change” that Sinn Féin has heralded.