Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly has acknowledged the IRA were "a main protagonist" in the Troubles after his party was accused of re-writing history for describing the British government as the "main conflict protagonist".
The party made their claim in its formal response to a public consultation on proposed mechanisms to deal with the past.
Unionists reacted angrily to the phrase.
Mr Kelly, an ex-IRA man, told the BBC he accepts the paramilitary group was "a main protagonist as well".
He said it was "reasonable for me and for republicans to say that the British were the main protagonists".
"But I am also accepting that political unionism, or British soldiers or whoever wants to say, that the IRA were a main protagonist," he added.
"I have no difficulty with that, because the IRA were a main protagonist."
During the interview, Mr Kelly referred to the IRA as "a" main protagonist and the government as "the" main protagonist.
However, when challenged he said "arguing over a single word or a single clause over the the next three or four weeks" would be fruitless.
"I've put the point and I stand over it," he said.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has claimed Sinn Féin is attempting to "rewrite history".
"Only Sinn Féin could put together a response to a consultation on dealing with the past and take umbrage at being questioned in relation to the IRA's role," she said.
