Gerry Adams has denied claims on WikiLeaks that he was an IRA leader and had advance knowledge of the infamous Northern Bank raid.

According to the latest US diplomatic cable leaks, the Irish government had “rock solid evidence” on the allegations.

But Mr Adams said the claims were not new, that he had denied them at the time, and blamed Irish political rivalries with his Sinn Fein party for the allegations.

Mr Adams and Martin McGuinness were aware that the £26.5 million robbery at the Northern Bank in Belfast in 2004, which was blamed on the IRA, was going to be carried out, officials in Dublin told the US ambassador James Kenny.

But Mr Adams said the claims were made publicly by the then Irish Premier and Fianna Fail party leader, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and were denied by republicans at the time.

“I repudiated it then, as did Martin. It isn’t true,” said Mr Adams.