Gerry Adams 'available for police questions' on McConville

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has asked a lawyer to contact police to establish if detectives want to speak to him about the murder of Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville.

The move comes after a veteran Republican, 77-year-old Ivor Bell, was charged last week in connection with the 1972 killing of Ms McConville.

Mr Adams said in a statement: "I can understand the McConville family's anger and hurt given what they have been through and given what some anti-peace process former Republican activists have been alleging.

"However, let me repeat. What happened to Jean McConville was a terrible injustice. I was not involved in any part of it.

"If the PSNI [Police Service Northern Ireland] wish to talk to me on this matter I am available to meet them. I have asked my solicitor to contact them."

The case against the man charged in connection with the murder of Jean McConville is based on an interview he allegedly gave to academics at an American university.

Ivor Bell, 77, was refused bail and remanded in custody by a district judge in Belfast accused of being involved in the disappearance of the mother-of-ten in Belfast in 1972.

Researchers at Boston College interviewed a number of former paramilitaries about the Troubles on the understanding transcripts would not be published until after their deaths.

However a US court last year ordered that the tapes be handed over to Northern Irish police.

The veteran Republican charged in connection with the murder of Jean McConville in 1972 has been refused bail by a district judge in Belfast.

Ivor Bell, 77, was accused of aiding and abetting in the murder as well as membership of the IRA.

Read: Man remanded in custody over McConville murder

Veteran Republican Ivor Bell has been remanded in custody charged in connection with the murder more than 40 years ago of Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville.

A veteran Republican has been charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Belfast woman Jean McConville more than forty years ago.

The mother of 10 was dragged from her home in 1972, killed and her body secretly buried.She became the most well-known of the so-called Disappeared.

ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen reports:

The daughter of Jean McConville has vowed to clear her mother's name after she was accused of passing information to the British Army.

The 37-year-old mother of 10 was abducted by a gang at her home in Belfast in December 1972 and became known as one of the 'Disappeared' - a group of people who were killed and buried in secret graves.

According to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, there were sixteen people who ‘disappeared’ during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

To date, the remains of nine victims have been recovered.

In a series of tweets, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the 77-year-old man had also been charged with membership of the IRA:

The murder of Jean McConville was one of the most notorious incidents of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

The 37-year-old mother of 10 was abducted by a gang at her home in Belfast in December 1972 after being accused of passing informationto the British Army.

She became known as one of the 'Disappeared' - a group of people who were killed and buried in secret graves.

In 2003, her remains were found on Shelling Hill beach, Co Louth.

A veteran Republican has been charged in connection with one of the most notorious incidents of the Northern Ireland Troubles, the murder of mother of 10 Jean McConville in Belfast more than 40 years ago.

Ivor Bell, 77, is due to appear in court in Belfast tomorrow accused of aiding and abetting in her murder.