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Following in the foot steps of Iris Robinson, who was thrown out of the Assembly chamber over comments about the Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, the DUP North Belfast MLA Nelson McCausland walked the Stormont plank this morning. His sin, in the eyes of the Assembly Speaker Willie Hay, was to make an "unfounded allegation of criminal behaviour" about the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. Mr McCausland used a speech on the disappeared yesterday to accuse Mr Adams of being the IRA leader who set up two special units to murder informers and dispose of their bodies. Mr Adams denied it and, speaking in Irish, called Mr McCausland " a foolish man".

Today the Speaker said Mr Adams had "directly refuted" the allegation and called on Mr McCausland to withdraw his comments. The North Belfast MLA pointed to Ed Moloney's "Secret History of the IRA" as his source, and refused to comply. He then made his way out of the building and its precincts.

Not for the first time, this episode has left me pondering the meaning of words. Has Mr Adams "refuted" the allegation? Well if you go with one definition then he hasn't, but if you choose another "to deny the truth or accuracy of the allegations", then he has. But then one kind of refutation is generally much more easy to pull off than another.

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