Ian Hislop is the editor of Private Eye

The account of the spat in the latest edition of the magazine, edited by Have I Got News For You regular Ian Hislop, stated that a mere two-sentence-long report in its previous edition had prompted a “hugely angry” response from the party’s press office.

The magazine had reported that Gerry Adams, who had travelled to Cuba for the funeral of Fidel Castro, was seen bypassing a queue for economy class travel at Havana airport and checking in for business class.

It said Sinn Fein complained that this was “completely inaccurate”, and accused the magazine of not following the rules of “basic journalism”.

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However, Private Eye said that upon challenging a Sinn Fein press officer, they admitted Mr Adams had indeed bypassed the queue via the business check-in, as a VIP guest of the Communist Party.

However, having circumvented the queue, Mr Adams then took his original seat in economy class.

Private Eye said: “We are happy to set the record straight: Gerry Adams travelled in economy class – but was spared the ordeal of queuing with hoi polloi.”

It added that it was “ironic to be lectured about honesty by a spokesman for Gerry Adams”.