Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has defended praising the 'bravery' of the IRA - saying he did it for the good of the peace process.
McDonnell, who was appointed Shadow Chancellor yesterday by new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, sparked outrage in 2003 when he said IRA terrorists should be "honoured" for taking part in their "armed struggle."
At a gathering in London to commemorate IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, he said: "It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle.
"It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table."
He also told the Sun newspaper the deaths of innocent civilians was a "tragedy" but it was "as a result of British occupation in Ireland".
But today, he said he made the comments in a bid to save the fragile, fledgling peace process.
He told Channel 4 News: "Yeah, that needs explaining quite a bit and I'll do it very quickly if you don't mind.
"This was 13 years ago when the peace process was extremely fragile. Some of us had to go out and sell that peace process and we were worried at that stage that if elements within the IRA and the republican movement thought they were going to be humiliated and defeated, there'd be a major split - and in that way the bombings and the military campaign would continue on.
"So some of us had to go out there - I might not have chosen the right words - but actually explain to them that they could stand down with dignity. They weren't being defeated, they were standing down and they could put their weapons aside. I was saying that to both sides.
"Now I know that as a result of that I got attacked, but actually it worked.
"And if it saved one life it was worth it."
Jeremy Corbyn has faced criticism for choosing close friend and campaign chief McDonnell for the senior cabinet position.
The veteran MP, who is said to lean further to the left than Corbyn himself, has made a series of questionable comments throughout his career.
As well as praising the IRA, he said in 2010 that he'd like to travel back to the 1980s and "assassinate Thatcher."
He also listed "fermenting the overthrow of capitalism" as a hobby on his Who's Who profile.