Police given names of suspected IRA sex abusers

DUBLIN - A senior member of the Irish Republican Army has passed on to Irish police the names of six former members suspected of committing sex abuse, the Sunday Times newspaper said.

Earlier this month Ireland's prime minister Enda Kenny told the Irish parliament he believed the IRA and members of its political wing Sinn Fein knew of the location of suspected sex abusers in Ireland who had not been reported to the police.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams rejected the accusations.

The Sunday Times said a letter by a senior member of the IRA was passed to police by a Sinn Fein councilor which gave the names, approximate ages and last-known addresses of the former IRA members.

The Irish police service and Sinn Fein did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. The councilor named by the newspaper as the intermediary did not respond to phone calls.

Kenny accused the IRA of holding informal hearings to deal with accusations of sex abuse by members during its 30-year armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.

He said the IRA moved suspected abusers to new locations, but did not inform the relevant authorities about the threat they posed to their new communities.

The IRA disarmed following a 1998 peace deal that most sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein is part of Northern Ireland's government and is a leading opposition party in the Republic of Ireland.