Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, has been linked to several IRA abductions in the 1970s.

According to a new book out today, Adams was responsible for setting up the IRA unit which murdered and secretly buried at least nine people.

The book also claims that Sinn Fein had direct contacts with the Thatcher government after the Brighton bomb.

Adams has refuted the allegations and denied membership of the IRA.