Mr Adams said a meeting would be pointless because Mr Flanagan had no mandate to talk about the future of the force.

Ronnie Flanagan: Offering "meaningful dialogue"

The head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary had said he was prepared to have direct talks with Sinn Fein.

But Sinn Fein insists that the RUC should be disbanded.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster Inside Politics programme, Mr Adams said: "For us to go through the silliness of a Sinn Fein representative going along to Ronnie Flanagan and saying 'You should be disbanded, you should hand in your redundancy notice' is only playing politics with the issue and it's too serious for that."

Mr Flanagan said he was prepared to meet with everyone because they had a right to have their say on how a policing service should be delivered.

He told BBC Radio Ulster: "Let us hear opinion, and everyone who has a legitimate opinion and I am prepared to listen to that opinion. I am prepared to engage in meaningful dialogue with anyone who wants to express a meaningful opinion on policing."

Mr Flanagan added: "If that's what they [Sinn Fein] choose to do, I am more than willing to engage in that dialogue with them."

Cutting back the RUC

Mr Adams said he was more interested in talking about policing with those who would have an impact on the RUC's future, such as the former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten.

Mr Patten: Meeting both sides

Mr Patten is currently carrying out a review of Northern Ireland policing and Sinn Fein has made a submission to his independent commission, which is due to report next summer.

Mr Patten is meeting both sides of the community. He is expected to recommend that the RUC's overall strength of 13,500 is cut by several thousand.

David Ervine, of the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party, was one of the first to react. He called Mr Adams' position "shameful".