Gerry Adams to step down as Sinn Fein president

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Gerry Adam’s, one of Ireland’s most controversial and pivotal politicians over the last 50 years, will stand down as leader of Sinn Fein next year.

Saying it was time for a change, he told the party’s annual conference in Dublin that he would not run in the next Irish parliamentary elections.

“Leadership means knowing when it’s time for change and that time is now. I have always seen myself as a team player, as a team builder. I have complete confidence in the leaders we’ve elected this weekend and in the next generation of leaders.”

A divisive figure, Adams has been denounced as a terrorist and hailed as a peacemaker.

The 69-year-old played a major role in bringing a permanent ceasefire in Northern Ireland in the 1990s.