SINN Féin president Gerry Adam has set the stage for future leadership change as he revealed he would outline his succession plans in November.
The longest serving leader of any political party in the UK and Ireland says he will set out his "future intentions" if he is re-elected party leader at its conference in November.
Mr Adams, who has been Sinn Féin president since 1983 said he would detail the party's "planned process of generational change" if he is re-elected.
He added that the party had a 10-year plan for "orderly leadership change" that had been outlined by Martin McGuinness.
Speaking in County Meath before a party meeting he said: “I will be allowing my name to go forward for the position of Uachtarán Shinn Féin [party president]. And if elected I will be setting out our priorities and in particular our planned process of generational change, including my own future intentions.”
It is the first hint from Adams – one of the longest-serving party leaders in the world – that he is considering stepping down from overall leadership of the republican party.
Speaking ahead of an annual meeting of elected Sinn Féin members to discuss upcoming plans and party strategy he said Sinn Féin's 10-year plan was being finalised and had "been the focus of much internal discussion".
"It is about preparing the party for the next ten years and to ensure that we are better able to achieve our strategic objectives.
"At this event at this venue last year, Martin McGuinness made it clear that we had a plan for orderly leadership change."
He added: "It is our intention to unveil at the Ard Fheis in November the plan that he helped to formulate.
The statement sparked speculation that he might run for the Irish Presidency "“It sounds like a long goodbye in that there’s an expectation that Mary Lou McDonald [deputy leader of Sinn Féin] is being groomed for the leadership,” said Eoin O’Malley, associate professor of politics at Dublin City University.
Mr Adams, who turns 60 next month, was the public face of the long IRA campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, a campaign which ended after the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998.
He has long denied IRA membership but was released from jail at the organisation's request to attend talks with the British Government in 1972.
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