GERRY Adams has been criticised over "perverse" comments he made about withholding information in connection with IRA murders.
The Sinn Féin leader has come under renewed pressure to reveal all he knows about the IRA murder of prison officer Brian Stack outside a boxing match in Dublin in 1983.
The Louth TD has already told the Dáil he emailed the names of four republicans who may have information on the killing to Garda commissioner Noírín O'Sullivan. However he has refused to publicly name the four.
Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie has described as "perverse" Mr Adams' claims that his refusal to name IRA figures was akin to journalists refusing to reveal sources.
The UUP's justice spokesman said the Sinn Féin president could not refuse to name the men while still calling on the British government to reveal all the information it holds about Troubles-linked murders.
"There is something inherently perverse about a political leader who says he protects the identity of a source in the same way the media protect the identity of sources," he said.
"The only difference being of course, is that Gerry Adams is referring to a murder, is an elected representative and the leader of a political party - Sinn Féin."
He added: "The crimes committed by the republican movement – including the murder of Brian Stack and many hundreds more, north and south of the border – cannot be downplayed or allowed to pass into history."
However Mr Adams has hit out at his "opportunistic" critics, including Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.
He said an all-Ireland Independent Commission on Information Retrieval, as proposed in the Stormont House agreement, should be set up.
"The core of this proposal is based on confidentiality and trust and it agrees that any information it receives will not be disclosed to law enforcement and intelligence agencies and the information will be inadmissible in criminal and civil proceedings," he said.
He said a confidential process is essential to encourage former paramilitaries to come forward.
Mr Adams told RTÉ's This Week he felt he had done all he could to help the Stack family.
When asked if he would help other families he said: "I don't know. I think it's unlikely but I don't know".
"When someone comes to you and tells you their sad story, as one of that generation of republicans that have survived the conflict I do feel a duty to try and bring as much comfort, as much closure, as much truth as is possible."
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin councillor and former IRA prisoner Seanna Walsh has said he never met either of Brian Stack's sons in connection with their father's murder.
In 2013 Austin Stack and his brother Oliver, along with Mr Adams, met a senior republican in 2013 with knowledge of his father's murder.
The brothers were driven in a blacked-out van to the border where they met the republican who told them that the murder had been carried out by an IRA member but had not been sanctioned by the group's leadership.
A statement from Mr Walsh's solicitor to several Sunday newspapers rejected claims the former IRA man had briefed the Stack brothers in connection with their father's murder, "My client has never met either of the Stack brothers in relation to their father's death," the statement read.
