Gay Byrne is to interview Gerry Adams about his faith for a new RTÉ series The Meaning of Life, in which prominent people in Irish life discuss their spiritual beliefs. Byrne's chat with the Sinn Féin leader has proved so compelling that RTÉ chiefs have decided to use it to kick off the series next month.

Speaking about the interview, Gay Byrne (75) said: "I disagree with everything he [Gerry Adams] stands for, everything the Provisional IRA stands for and everything Sinn Féin stands for.

"Nonetheless, I have great regard for Gerry Adams, himself in his person. I think he is a very impressive guy and a very impressive communicator who has a wonderful way with words."

It's a long way from 1994 when, in a highly charged edition of The Late Late Show, Byrne would not shake hands with Adams and sat some feet away from him.

Byrne said: "At one stage he was the head of a terrorist organisation and then he became a statesman and that is the way the world is. He's been on The Late Late Show several times since then and I have spoken to him on the radio."

Byrne described his latest meeting with Adams as "friendly... It wasn't confrontational at all. We interviewed him, he was very generous and very thoughtful but it was an interview where you certainly had to think on your feet.

"He is interesting about Sinn Féin and the things the IRA did. Born and reared a Catholic, he went to a Catholic school and so on, but as he matured and got into things, he began to have his doubts.

"He's still a practising member of the Catholic church but he would be in the bracket of an á la carte Catholic," Byrne said.