Following a weekend which saw a dent in support for Sinn Féin in polls, Mairia Cahill spoke to Lunchtime with Jonathan Healy about claims she was a member of a dissident group and the Liam Adams sexual abuse case.
Ms Cahill claimed in a Spotlight documentary that she was discouraged from reporting the case to the RUC and that the IRA held a "kangaroo court" which forced her to confront her attacker.
The Sinn Féin President has stated that he never spoke to Ms Cahill about her case and has encouraged other possible victims of abuse to come forward to the police.
However, there are claims that the IRA exiled some of those who were accused of sexual abuse although Mr Adams denies that he knows anything about these cases.
Ms Cahill spoke to Lunchtime about her membership of the Republican Network for Unity group: "I regret it now.
"It was a very small group. It didn't have very much support or any type of sway. I had a very short involvement with it.
"I argued that armed actions were the wrong thing to do."
She also claimed that when she had mentioned the abuse in a police statement, she was visited by a Sinn Féin member: "In 2007, I first went and made a police complaint. I made reference to the fact that I had been sexually abused.
"In 2009, I made another complaint and I received a visit from a Sinn Féin official.
"The charge was subsequently dropped at court.
"Even in that year, Sinn Féin were asking me to drop the claim."
Ms Cahill also spoke at length about the sexual abuse case involving Liam Adams, brother to Gerry, who was accused of raping his daughter. Mairia stated: "I'm aware that there is an appeal in relation to that individual so I'm going to be very careful just about what I say."
"Gerry Adams by his own admission believed his niece.
"He said under oath in court that Liam confessed to him. He didn't do anything in relation to reporting that.
"That man had access to children and continued to work with them. He continued to be a member of Sinn Fein.
"He has a clear track record in relation to his handling of children with sexual abuse."
Here interview in full is here:
