republican

It held paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles and was the scene of republican hunger strikes in 1981 when 10 inmates starved themselves to death.

Critics see the new constitution as no more than a device to perpetuate the rule of the Gnassingbé dynasty – a regime variously described by West African regional media as a "republican monarchy" and "legalist authoritarianism".

Mr McCullough said there were a total of three other sources from the security community and two republican sources, which corroborated the allegations made by Martin.

The statue of the former MP was unveiled on Sunday in an Irish republican memorial garden in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast.

The barrister also asked Mr Adams about meetings with UK government representatives which he had attended with other senior republicans in 1972 in an effort to negotiate an agreement following an IRA truce.