The wife of Gerry Adams has undergone surgery for cancer, it was revealed last night.
The Sinn Féin leader said he and Colette received news of the disease a month ago.
“That was a huge shock,” he told a party selection convention in west Belfast. He said last Thursday’s operation went well and she was in good spirits. “I want to take this opportunity to thank the medical and health staff and our own doctor for their good work,” he added.
There were no other candidates standing, and he was unanimously selected to represent the party at this year’s Westminster elections.
Mr Adams has called for his brother Liam to hand himself in to face sex abuse allegations and his family has also been hit by revelations that his own father Gerry Snr was an abuser.
He has faced questioning about what he did to prevent his brother from working in politics.
Mr Adams said: “I have never done anything deliberately to harm republicanism, the struggle or Sinn Féin, and I believed that the leaderships here in the city had the right to know what was likely to develop.”
He thanked people for their solidarity.
PA