Enda Kenny slammed by Gerry Adams

Adams warns the North that Fine Gael are not to be trusted

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President of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams

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Gerry Adams publicly denounced the leader of Fine Gael, Enda Kenny, at a press conference in Stormont yesterday.

Adams told the media at the press conference that Fine Gael and it's leader were "not trusted" amongst nationalists when it came to the "national question".

Prior to Adams statement, Kenny revealed that Fine Gael would never enter into a coalition Government with Sinn Fein. Kenny told reporters that there was no room for two army's in the republic and said that he would not cooperate with a party that had an army council.

 "More importantly in our 26 counties, in our Republic, we have a situation where we have one Army and one Army only. I cannot deal with Sinn Féin because the [IRA] army council has never been stood down," said Kenny.

"This is an issue, in so far as I am concerned, that is fundamental to the constitution of our country, the fact that we have only one Army. I have given Sinn Féin due credit for the distance it has travelled, but that journey in terms of democratic politics has not yet been completed,”

Kenny made the claims despite the fact that the Independent Monitoring Commission declared that the Army council disbanded in 2008.

Kenny added that he would not enter a coalition with Sinn Fein because of their economic, taxation and EU policy which was completely contradictory to Fine Gael's.

Kenny and his colleagues met with First Minister Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams at parliament buildings in Northern Ireland.

Adams said that the meeting with Kenny was"frank but good" but felt that Kenny's comments on Sinn Fein were "offensive" and undemocratic.

"This has nothing to do with the IRA. The IRA has long since left the stage. So quite frankly, and I told Enda this, most democrats, nationalists and republicans don’t trust Fine Gael on the national question or on the North,” said Adams.

"We are pleased to have Fine Gael here. They’re not here often enough otherwise they wouldn’t make such silly statements. For the Fine Gael leader to say such silly things on a visit to Parliament Buildings and at a meeting in which the only government Ministers present are Sinn Féin Ministers, only feeds into those on the unionist and on the fringes of the nationalist side who are opposed to the peace process,”

"It is deeply offensive to those who elect me and other Sinn Féin representatives that a senior politician in Leinster House doesn’t uphold the democratic rights of those who vote republican across this island and their right to choose whoever they want to represent them.”

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