McGuinness rejects Ahern charges over bank heist

Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, today rejected the Taoiseach's accusation that senior party leaders were …

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Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, today rejected the Taoiseach's accusation that senior party leaders were aware of the Belfast bank heist while in talks with both governments.

Mr McGuinness said his party had worked "closely" with Mr Ahern down through the years, and had done so "with honesty and in a straightforward manner." He said he rejected "outright" accusations of "double-dealing and dishonesty."

Mr McGuinness was reacting to comments made by the Taosieach on RTÉ's This Weekprogramme.

On the programme Mr Ahern said: "This was a provisional IRA job. . . . This is a job that would have been known to the political leadership, that is my understanding."

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Mr McGuinness said now was not the time for the governments to give up on the process. He said Sinn Féin had "invested huge time and resources in the peace process, as have others, and we will not allow unsubstantiated allegations to deflect us in our work."

Describing PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde's assertion that the IRA was involved in December's bank robbery as a case of "political intervention." Mr McGuinness said it was disappointing that people "are prepared to accept the word of Hugh Orde despite the fact he has not produced one iota of evidence to suggest that republicans were behind this robbery."

He said Mr Orde's assertion was as a result of "intelligence reports from faceless securocrats who have a less than honourable record in this country."

Mr McGuinness said he was "not dismissing" the difficulties the robbery has caused "because even before this incident there were difficulties created by the DUP's refusal to share power with Sinn Féin."

He added that "instead of responding to an agenda being set by those who oppose the peace process and who use every opportunity to undermine it, political leaders need to examine the facts, defend the Agreement and move on."

Earlier Sinn Féin Chairman Mr Mitchel McLaughlin reacted angrily to the Taosieach's claims, saying his comments were nothing more than "partisan and opportunistic attacks" on Sinn Féin and "unworthy of the Taoiseach".

Mr McLaughlin said he hoped that later today there would be further clarification because it was "inconceivable that he [the Taoiseach] genuinely believes that Martin McGuinness and Gerrry Adams were involved in planning bank robberies during negotiations or any other thing."

The Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said that because of the IRA's alleged involvement in the bank robbery, Sinn Féin had ruled themselves out of the political process in Northern Ireland

Dr Paisley told the BBC Radio 4 Todayprogramme: "The agreement we came together to reach was that if anybody broke the rules and were not prepared to stick to peace, instead of paramilitary activity, they would automatically go out of the process.

"I think the IRA have put themselves out of the process," he said.

"I think that the two governments have got to get the train out of the station. As the IRA/Sinn Féin have put themselves out of the train, the train must go on and we must get our government back here in Northern Ireland," Dr Paisley added.