The Sinn Féin president has played down reports that the party's American donors have raised concerns about its tax policies.

It was reported today that Irish-American businesses are concerned at the party's policies on taxes and government spending. The Irish Times reported that a group of American businessmen travelled to Dublin in January to learn about the party’s economic plans, with Sinn Féin rise in popularity driving them to make the trip.

However, party leader Gerry Adams insists the party holds similar meetings with groups in Ireland regularly.

The visiting businessmen are reported to have met Adams, Mary Lou McDonald TD, Pearse Doherty TD and Peadar Toibin TD in a conference room in the Dáil.

“We’re doing the same in Ireland,” he said.

“Last week I did four or five town hall meetings, one night after another.

“We were meeting with some fairly substantial American business people,” said James Cullen, president of Friends of Sinn Féin, the party’s powerful US fundraising arm, The Irish Times reports.

“One of the things that we spoke about is this perception that exists in Ireland certainly and I guess to some degree here (in the United States) among the uninformed that Sinn Féin is somehow hostile to business,” he added.

Adams said the American businessmen were not the first group the party met with from the US recently.

“We also brought national representatives of the US, North American Labour unions. So we listen and we learn.”

Adams insisted that regardless of who Sinn Féin meet with, “the Ard Fheis decides our policy”.