Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty says he doesn't know if he would have joined the IRA during the Troubles had he been old enough.
However, the party's finance spokesperson says he hopes he would have had the courage to 'stand up defending his community' against the British Army if he was living in Derry during the 1970s.
Over the weekend, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Sunday Independent there would be "every chance" she could have joined the IRA had she been raised in the North.
Deputy Doherty told The Pat Kenny Show he is unsure if he would have volunteered.
He observed: "You can't put yourself in a situation of what happened in the streets of the Bogside in 1970.
"If I was a teenager, would I have that courage? I don't know, and I couldn't ever suggest that I could say yes or no.
"But I absolutely do not second guess in any way those who stood up to defend their communities at that point in time.
"If I was there in 1916, I hope I would have been inside the GPO... if I was there a couple of years before, I hope I would be there supporting the Lockout... if I was in the streets of Derry in the 1970s when the British Army swarmed in, I hope I would be standing up defending my community."
He stressed that what's most important today is that he's part of the Sinn Féin leadership, and that the "gun has been taken out of Irish politics" due to the peace process.
