Sinn Féin MP Francie Molloy has apologised for any offence he may have caused when he described claims by a Co Louth man that he had been raped by an IRA member as a "load of rubbish".
Paudie McGahon claimed he was sexually abused by a senior IRA member in his family home when he was 17. The allegations were carried in a BBC Spotlight programme broadcast last night.
The tweet, which has since been deleted, drew strong criticism from abuse victim Máiría Cahill on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
In a statement, Mr Molloy said: "I apologise for any offence my post caused to Paudie McGahon or any victim of abuse.
"I hope that justice is served and the appropriate support delivered to Mr McGahon.
"Sinn Féin's priority is to support victims of abuse whether that abuse is historical or contemporary and we will support victims in their efforts to get truth and justice."
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said he believes Mr McGahon's claims that when he was 17 he was raped at his family home in Co Louth by a senior IRA member.
Also speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Adams said he believed the person against whom the allegation has been made should be subject to due process.
Mr Adams said he believed Mr McGahon should be supported and obviously needs and wants justice.
Sinn Féin's very clear intention would be to support him in that, he said.
He said anyone with any information whatsoever on this, or any other allegation, should bring it forward to gardaí or the PSNI.
The Sinn Féin leader also said that the person accused of the rape should come forward and give himself up.
Earlier, abuse victim Máiría Cahill said Sinn Féin needs to stop denying the abuse issue surrounding republicans or that its members were involved in covering up abuse.
Speaking on the same programme, Ms Cahill said she had been "hugely distressed" by the allegations of abuse and the setting up of a republican Kangaroo court made by Mr McGahon.
It is alleged this happened in the early 2000s.
Ms Cahill said: "Sinn Féin need to admit this and accept his account in its entirety."
"There's no point" Sinn Féin saying its members are not involved in "covering up abuse", she said.
It had been more difficult for Mr McGahon to come forward, she said, after seeing how she had been treated publicly by Sinn Féin when she went public last year about her own abuse allegations.
Ms Cahill said she had warned Sinn Féin in the wake of her disclosure that when it denied that it covered up the abuse, it would be invalidating other abuse victims and re-traumatising them and this would force the victims to come forward.
She went on to condemn Mr Molloy's tweet.
Questions over how IRA got involved, says TD
Meanwhile, Fine Gael Meath East TD Regina Doherty said questions needed to be answered about how the IRA got involved in investigating the allegations made by Mr McGahon, which were brought to the attention of Sinn Féin Councillor Pearse McGeough in 2002.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, she said Mr McGeough needed to answer how the "kangaroo court" came to be and if he had any involvement in it.
Ms Doherty said she would like to know, during the course of the conversations between Mr McGahon and Cllr McGeough, how the IRA became involved and how personnel from the North were brought down to Mr McGahon's father's house so the young man could be summonsed to answer questions.
She also called on Mr Adams to acknowledge and admit that kangaroo courts were "part of the normal practice and play of Sinn Féin/IRA at the time in dealing with these situations as they arose".
Sinn Féin Justice, Equality and Defence spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has said the person accused of rape by Mr McGahon should give himself up.
Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time last night, Mr Mac Lochlainn added he was sure others had been abused.
Mr McGahon, 40, from Co Louth has said the IRA offered to kill his alleged abuser, but instead he was exiled to Britain.
In 2002 Mr McGahon says he told a local Sinn Féin representative about the alleged sexual assault.
He claims he was then subjected to an IRA kangaroo court in his home.
He says he was told that his alleged abuser had admitted abusing him and others and says a number of options were put to him about what would happen to the alleged abuser.
These included having him shot dead, beaten up or deported.
Mr McGahon says he opted to have the man exiled to England.
A major and ongoing investigation was launched last year after Mr McGahon reported the alleged rape to gardaí.
The allegations are similar to claims made last year by Ms Cahill, who said she was raped by an IRA member and the alleged abuse was then covered up by the organisation.
Both she and Mr McGahon claim that a prominent Belfast Sinn Féin figure, Padraic Wilson, was involved in the alleged kangaroo courts into their allegations.
In a statement through his solicitor yesterday, Mr Wilson said he had never met Mr McGahon, and said had no dealings whatsoever with the man he alleges raped him.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said Mr Adams should empathise and apologise to victims of abuse for their ordeal.
Speaking at a 'Connect Ireland' event for the St Patrick's Festival, Mr Flanagan said: "He should in the first instance be empathetic with victims, be apologising for their ordeal".
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