Gerry Adams is to be paid 10,000 for making a programme about God and forgiveness to be shown on Channel 4
Gerry Adams is to be paid 10,000 by Channel 4 for his controversial programme on Christian forgiveness.
The Sinn Fein leader has already pocketed 5,000 from the makers of the programme, which has provoked condemnation from victims of Irish republican violence.
A payment of a further 5,000 for Mr Adams" work presenting the show is to follow.
The fees for the Channel 4 programme run to more than the compensation paid to victims of violence during Northern Ireland"s troubles.
The programme, part of a series called The Bible: a History, is broadcast tonight.
It filmed Mr Adams on a "personal journey to discover the real Jesus" and examining Christian teachings on "love, forgiveness and repentance".
Channel 4 said Mr Adams was being paid the fee because of "standard practice" and because in it "he faces tough questions about forgiveness and repentance".
Mr Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA, which killed nearly 2,000 people over nearly three decades of violence during the Troubles.
However, independent authors have said he was commander of the Belfast Brigade the Provisional IRA and held other senior posts in it during the bloodletting of the 1970s.
As he built his political career, Mr Adams was claiming state benefits from the British taxpayer, describing himself as an unemployed barman.
Ralph Lee, head of "specialist factual" at Channel 4, said: "It is standard practice to pay presenters and a similar fee was paid to each of the other presenters in The Bible series.
"Gerry Adams spent a considerable amount of time working on this film in which he faces tough questions about forgiveness and repentance and discusses these issues with victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland."
Mr Adams claimed during the programme that, along with others, he "helped bring peace to Ireland".
Lorraine Wilson, 15, who died in the Omagh bombing. Her father is furious Gerry Adams is being paid to make the programme
While refusing to accept guilt for bloodshed during the Troubles, he said: "Bad things have been done to me. I have to forgive those who did them."
He added: "Sometimes I was in tune with Jesus" message and sometimes not. I am not a pacifist and I don"t believe that non-violent protest would have got justice in Ireland, but I do know that after decades of war, we all have plenty to forgive and be forgiven for."
Among victims of violence in Northern Ireland is Godrey Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter Lorraine was among 29 people killed by the Omagh car bomb in 1998. The bomb was planted by a dissident republican group, the Real IRA.
Mr Wilson told the Sunday Telegraph: "As a bereaved father whose daughter was doing charity work when she was killed, I fail to understand how her life can be worth only 7,500 while Gerry Adams is given 10,000."
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