Liam Adams handed himself in to police in the Irish Republic on Monday evening but officers were unable to detain him because authorities north of the border had not applied for the correct warrant.

The younger brother of the Sinn Fein president is facing 23 charges of raping and molesting his daughter, Aine Tyrell, in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s.

He walked into a Garda station in Co Sligo days after the republican leader issued a public appeal urging him to face up to the allegations levelled against him.

But Police Service of Northern Ireland sources said it would be late January "at the earliest" before they could obtain a European Arrest Warrant which would enable gardai to take Adams into custody and hand him over.

"The situation won't change in the near future unless he hands himself in to police in Northern Ireland," the source added.

The police have been hunting for Adams since last November when he failed to turn up for a court appearance in Belfast. However, it has now emerged that the warrant issued for his arrest then only covered the UK.

Adams, who is in his 50s, is understood to have spoken for a number of hours with senior Garda detectives about his alleged crimes on Monday before leaving the station.

He apparently stayed at a guest house in Sligo that night, but gave no permanent address.

As well as urging his brother to come forward, Gerry Adams has also revealed that his father, Gerry Adams Senior, abused family members before his death.