A veteran republican who helped found the Provisional IRA has said Gerry Adams was a member of the organisation and described his denials as “a lie”.
Des Long has given an interview to BBC Spotlight as part of its series on the Troubles. He claimed he attended meetings of the IRA’s ruling executive with Mr Adams, who was there as “chairman of the army council”.
Mr Adams has always maintained he was never part of the IRA.
Mr Long’s allegation is made in part two of ‘Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History’, which charts the IRA’s campaign of violence through the 1970s.
He said: “The chairman of the army council would turn up to the executive meetings. We were meeting at least every four months.” When asked who the chairman was, he replied: “Gerry Adams.”
Mr Long was one of the founding members of the Provisional IRA
Mr Long was then told that the former Sinn Féin president has repeatedly denied ever being in the IRA.
He said: “I sat opposite him at meetings. This lie he comes out with, he was never in the IRA, that’s a lie.
“I’ll probably get shot for saying it, but I’m saying it.”
Mr Long fell out with Mr Adams in 1986,
