AFP - Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams revealed that his father subjected family members to sexual and physical abuse.

Adams, one of the most important figures in Northern Irish politics over the past 30 years, said his father sexually abused his children and his family were still recovering from the trauma.

Adams, one of 10 children who survived infancy, said he had revisited his childhood home and scenes of the abuse but could not recall being abused personally.

The leader of Northern Ireland's main republican party, a key figure in the province's peace process, said the abuse was "heartbreaking".

His father, Gerry Adams, Senior, was an Irish Republican Army volunteer. He died a "lonely old man" in 2003 due to his past abuse, according to his son.

"In the late 1990s we discovered that our father had been sexually, emotionally and physically abusing members of our family," Adams, the member of parliament for West Belfast, said in a statement.

"This abuse happened over many years.

"This discovery and the abuse which preceded it have had a devastating impact on our entire family. We are still struggling to come to terms with what happened. We live with the consequences every single day.

"Abuse of any kind is horrendous but sexual abuse, particularly of a child, is indescribably wounding and heartbreaking.

"Victims of abuse in our family are still, years later, recovering from the trauma inflicted on us.

"Our prayer is that everyone will be healed.

"We believe that there is a way out of this awfulness."

The 61-year-old has spoken publicly about the abuse for the first time as his brother, Liam Adams, is wanted by police over charges of sexual abuse against his daughter during her childhood.

Gerry Adams has urged his brother to come forward.