Republicans upset by attack on Adams

Republicans were so incensed by a column written by Robin Livingstone in the Andersonstown News that the newspaper removed the offending column from its website and printed an apology. The ‘Squinter’ column, like the rest of the paper, has for a long time been an uncritical supporter of Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams but the column sought to accuse Gerry Adams of falling to recognise his responsibilities with regard to the social problems of West Belfast.
The column would probably not have been noticed much beyond West Belfast but the ‘censorship’ of ‘Squinter’ and the original criticisms were then carried by a number of other newspapers – including some with large GB circulations.