Gerry Adams steps down as Sinn Féin president

Gerry Adams has announced he is stepping down as president of Sinn Féin after 34 years in charge of the party that was once closely linked to the IRA.Adams also confirmed that he will not seek re-election to the Irish parliament, the Dáil, in the next general election.The 69-year-old-republican played a pivotal role in shifting the IRA to a permanent ceasefire in the 1990s and nudging Sinn Féin towards embracing power sharing with its former unionists enemies in Northern Ire