Ex IRA member says Gerry Adams was 'extremely senior member of IRA'

A former IRA member and informant for the Gardai has claimed "everyone knows” that Gerry Adams was an "extremely senior member of the IRA".

Sean O'Callaghan, who said he was at IRA meetings with Gerry Adams, said the Sinn Fein president could not admit to membership because he would be arrested immediately.

“If he admits to membership of the IRA tomorrow morning he’ll be charged…He’ll go to jail for it,” O’Callaghan said. "There was no amnesty (and) they didn't get the deal they wanted.

“It's why Martin McGuinness stopped in ‘74...So (Gerry Adams) is not going to admit to it. But everybody knows, we all know that Gerry was an extremely senior member of the IRA for years. Everybody knows it.”

Sinn Féin dismissed the claims calling them "increasingly outlandish" and said they could not be taken with any credibility.