Gerry Adams

As Sinn Féin president, Adams led the republican movement from armed struggle into politics, through the Hume-Adams talks, the 1994 and 1997 IRA ceasefires, the 1998 agreement and the IRA's decommissioning in 2005. His leadership kept most of the movement together through those compromises, which is the core of his contribution. He has always denied being a member of the IRA, a denial widely disbelieved, and many victims' families regard his role in the conflict as unaccounted for.