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Gerry Adams to stand down as Sinn Féin leader next year | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has revealed he plans to stand down as leader of the party next year. | Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has revealed he plans to stand down as leader of the party next year. |
Mr Adams also said he will not stand for election to the Irish parliament (Dail) at the next election. | Mr Adams also said he will not stand for election to the Irish parliament (Dail) at the next election. |
Speaking at the Sinn Féin ard fhéis (party conference) in Dublin, Mr Adams said it would be his last as leader. | Speaking at the Sinn Féin ard fhéis (party conference) in Dublin, Mr Adams said it would be his last as leader. |
"Leadership means knowing when it's time for change and that time is now," Mr Adams said. | "Leadership means knowing when it's time for change and that time is now," Mr Adams said. |
Profile: Gerry Adams | |
The 69-year-old TD (member of the Irish parliament) for County Louth has been party president since 1983. | The 69-year-old TD (member of the Irish parliament) for County Louth has been party president since 1983. |
Analysis: BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport | |
So the build-up was justified - to paraphrase one of Gerry Adams' most famous phrases, he is going away you know. | |
The precise date will depend on the party's ard comhairle or ruling executive which is expected to meet within the next fortnight - they will in turn call an extraordinary ard fheis where a new leader will be elected. | |
Sinn Féin may hope that Mr Adams' decision not to stand in the next Irish election will make any talks about a future coalition in Dublin more straightforward. | |
But the Fianna Fáil Leader Micheal Martin has repeated his view that Sinn Fein remains unacceptable as a partner in government. | |
Whatever the future brings, though, there's no doubt Gerry Adams' move marks an historic change as a leader who oversaw the republican movement's journey between violence and peace gives way to another politician who will pursue Irish unity through more conventional parliamentary politics. | |
Mr Adams said he will be asking the party leadership to agree a date in 2018 for a special party conference to elect a new leader. | Mr Adams said he will be asking the party leadership to agree a date in 2018 for a special party conference to elect a new leader. |
"I have always seen myself as a team player, as a team builder," he said. | "I have always seen myself as a team player, as a team builder," he said. |
Mr Adams said the move was formulated along with party colleague Martin McGuinness before his death earlier this year. | |
It has already seen Michelle O'Neill, 40, take the role of Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont. | |
Earlier, delegates at the conference voted in favour of a motion to hold a special ard fhéis three months after the departure of the party president. | |
The motion will allow for a leadership contest once a vacancy arises. | |
Abortion vote | |
Delegates also voted to liberalise the party's policy on abortion. | |
Party members voted in favour of allowing abortions where a pregnancy poses a risk to a woman's health, including mental health. | |
There will be a referendum on abortion law in the Republic of Ireland in May or June of next year. | |
Sinn Féin's previous position supported allowing terminations when a baby is expected to die in the womb or shortly after birth, and in cases of rape or incest. | |
Currently, the law in the Republic of Ireland only permits abortion when there is a real and substantial risk to a woman's life. In Northern Ireland, terminations are only legal when continuing with a pregnancy poses a serious or permanent risk to a woman's health. | |
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Stormont leader has called on the Irish government to appoint a minister with responsibility for advancing Irish unity. | |
Michelle O'Neill told the party conference that a parliamentary committee in the Republic of Ireland should also be formed to look at a united Ireland. |