Campaign trail Sinn Féin wants to send eight members from Belfast to any future assembly, the party president said yesterday.
Addressing a campaign launch for nine candidates in the four Belfast constituencies, Mr Adams said strong campaigning on the streets and disciplined transferring between candidates was the key to maximising the Sinn Féin representation.
Speaking in the Waterfront Hall under a banner which proclaimed "A city of equals", Mr Adams was accompanied by his eight running mates and by the party's chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness.
In an unscripted address, Mr Adams set the target of winning an extra seat in North, South and West Belfast and raising the party's take of seats from five to eight.
He also called on party workers to ensure Sinn Féin builds on its position in the solidly loyalist East Belfast constituency with a view to local elections in 2006.
Mr Adams contrasted Sinn Féin fortunes now with the early 1980s.
"Much has changed in Belfast over the past 20 years, since Alex Maskey became the first Sinn Féin councillor in this city.
"Since then Sinn Féin has become the largest political party in Belfast and our track record is there for everyone to see."
He added: "We delivered in our communities, in City Hall, in the Assembly and in the peace process."