Preparing the ground for when Adams steps down

The recent election of the IRA’s former head of intelligence to a prominent position in Sinn Féin north of the border is being viewed by some as an attempt to prepare the ground for the eventual election of a southern politician to take over from Gerry Adams.

In a significant development away from the ard fheis in Wexford, west Belfast republican and close Adams confident Bobby Storey was elected chairperson of the six-county Cúige almost two weeks ago.

The IRA veteran, a towering 6ft 5in, spent almost 20 years in jail for gun attacks on the British Army, masterminded the escape of 38 IRA men in 1983 from the Maze, and was believed to have helped plan the 2002 theft of highly confidential police files from the Castlereagh complex.