One of Sinn Féin's most ardent supporters in the US Congress has called on the IRA to disband.
Republican representative Peter King, who for more than two decades has been a supporter of the republican movement, accused the IRA of making a series of poor decisions that have fueled growing hostility within Irish-American circles.
King said IRA activities were preventing a potential new power-sharing deal between Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists.
His comments came as Gerry Adams traveled to New York City on the second day of a weeklong trip. King said Americans were finding it "hard to see what the justification is for the continued existence of the IRA."
Since the collapse of talks in December the IRA has been accused of mounting the world's largest bank robbery, the murder of Robert McCartney, the intimidation of witnesses and laundering millions annually in criminal proceeds. Senator King said this criminal combination had demonstrated "the reality that it really is time for the IRA to go out of business."
Senator King, who usually attends Sinn Fein's annual conferences and in the past offered praise for IRA "freedom fighters," did not attend this month's conference in Dublin.
"Probably the worst criticism I could make of the IRA is that they are making Ian Paisley look good, and that takes a lot of work," he quipped.
He called the Northern Bank robbery "totally inexcusable."
He said the IRA's subsequent implication in the murder of Robert McCartney in Belfast caused much more disgust among rank-and-file American backers of Sinn Fein.
AP