Gerry Adams held a secret meeting with the mother of two women who were allegedly abused by the man accused of raping Mairia Cahill.

According to the Sunday Times, the Sinn Féin leader referred to the meeting in a statement which he sent to the Police Service of Northern Ireland through a solicitor after he was approached by detectives who were investigating claims by Ms. Cahill.

Mr Adams claimed he never discussed the specifics of the allegations despite offering his support to the family of the victims.

The women in question claimed they were abused when they were 13 and 14 years of age and that the abuse continued for three years, the paper reports.

The two women claim they were subjected to an interrogation by the IRA but were not forced to face their attacker like Mairia Cahill.

They both made statements with Cahill in 2010 to the PSNI.

The women confirmed they withdrew their complaints about the abuser in a statement issued to the media last week. The PSNI informed them that their case had been adjourned to facilitate prosecutions for IRA membership against their abuser and four others.

Mr Adams has repeatedly stated that he never spoke to Mairia Cahill about her abuse.