The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, has rejected claims by the DUP that he, the Education Minister and a number of other men are senior figures in the IRA.
Speaking at the launch of his party's campaign opposing the Nice Treaty, Mr Adams said the claims, made by the DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, in the Assembly on Tuesday, had already been made by Dr Ian Paisley. "It is important that there are frank exchanges but I obviously reject the assertion that Peter Robinson made about IRA membership."
Sinn Fein said the party would not make any further comment on the matter and that Mr Adams had dealt with it in the Assembly.
In Tuesday's debate, the only reference Mr Adams had made to the allegations was to report that Education Minister Mr Martin McGuinness had already said he was no longer a member of the IRA.
Speaking during a debate on a motion of no confidence in Mr McGuinness, Mr Robinson said he had received a letter outlining "the present army council membership of the IRA".
"It indicates that the chief-of-staff is Thomas Murphy, and the assistant-chief is Brian Keenan. The other members are Martin McGuinness, Gerard Adams, Martin Ferris, Patrick Doherty and Brian Gillen.
"The headquarters staff are as follows: the quartermaster is Kevin Agnew; the adjutant general is Martin Lynch; Bernard Fox is in charge of the engineering department; the director of education is James Monaghan; the director of finances is Patrick Thompson; the operations officer is Sean Hughes; the director of intelligence is Robert Storey; and Patrick Murphy and Kevin McBride are in charge of internal security - although I suspect that they will have to get new jobs after this."
In May 1998, Mr Thomas Murphy lost a libel case against the Sunday Times for a 1985 article describing him as the IRA's "officer commanding for the whole of Northern Ireland". The jury found the article published on June 30th, 1985, meant Mr Murphy was "a prominent member of the IRA", that he "planned murder and the bombing of property" and that those words were true "in substance or in fact".
Mr Martin Ferris is a Sinn Fein councillor and the party's Dail candidate for Kerry North.
Mr Martin Lynch was jailed for 10 years in 1982 for arms offences, Mr Bernard Fox is a former hunger striker and Mr Sean Hughes is a former member of the INLA who served four years in France on arms smuggling charges. In April 2000 he was acquitted of the murder of Garda Patrick Reynolds in 1982.
Mr Robert Storey took part in an escape from the Maze Prison in 1983. Mr Patrick Murphy was released from prison in December 1997 while serving a seven-year sentence for possessing one of the biggest ever IRA arms caches in 1994.