Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness dies aged 66

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister, has died aged 66.

It is understood he had been suffering from a rare heart condition.

The former IRA leader turned peacemaker worked at the heart of the power-sharing government following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

He became deputy first minister in 2007, standing alongside Democratic Unionist Party leaders Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster.

Mr McGuinness stood down from his post in January in protest against the DUP's handling of an energy scandal, in a move that triggered a snap election.

Martin McGuinness grew up in Derry's Bogside, radicalised by discrimination and murder on the streets of his city.

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness dies aged 66

If Martin McGuinness were still an IRA Commander, I don't think I'd care enough to write a post marking his passing but times have changed and so had he, so very, very much.

The man went from second in command of the I.R.A to Sinn Féin's chief negotiator in the Northern Ireland peace process negotiations (which led to the Good Friday Agreement). Then he was elected as the Foyle reprasentative to the Northern Ireland Forum and then was the M.P for Mid Ulster until the Good Friday Agreement was finalised when he became a member of the Assembly for the same region. From here he was nominated Minister for Education (which led to him scrapping the very same 11 Plus exams he himself failed at school, seen as a contraversial move by some.) He was also re-elected in 2001, 2005 and 2010 to the Parliment in Westminster.

In 2007, soon after the St Andrews Agreement, he was elevated to Deputy First Minister of Ireland with old enemy Ian Paisley as First Minister. These men were, at one point mortal enemies, so this was a really big deal, on a visit to the White House to visit, then President, George W. Bush McGuinness famously said to the press , "Up until the 26 March this year, Ian Paisley and I never had a conversation about anything—not even about the weather—and now we have worked very closely together over the last seven months and there's been no angry words between us.... This shows we are set for a new course."

2011 saw him come in 3rd place in the Irish Presidential Elections, an election he himself couldn't vote in as he wasn't a resident of the Republic of Ireland.

2012 came to an end with McGuinness announcing that he had formally resigned as the MP for Mid-Ulster stating "I have served formal notice of my resignation from the position of MP for Mid-Ulster with immediate effect. This is in line with my party's commitment to end double jobbing."

Most recently, a scandal was uncovered surrounding the Renewable Heat Incentive (or "Cash for Ash") scheme which cost the Northern Ireland Executive £480m over 20 years, the opposition parties all called for the resignation of First Minister Arlene Foster who championed the scheme when she was Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Incentives. Her refusal led to all opposition parties walking out and McGuinness resigned at the suggestion of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams. When it came time for re-elections McGuinness didn't run due to health concerns. That only happened this year, his passing has follwed on from that in a pretty short order.

He certainly led a fairly remarkable life...

R.I.P Martin McGuinness
23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017

bout time he was a peice of # terrorist ..gd riddance

originally posted by: robbeh
bout time he was a peice of # terrorist ..gd riddance

That's my point though, he was a piece of # terrorist, a long time ago (I don't doubt he was involved with the I.R.A longer than he claims however). But he did a lot of good after that period of his life. He led an interesting life.

a reply to: djz3ro

I reserve any notion of R.I.P,

I was caught up in two IRA bombings growing up and very nearly got caught up in the Docklands Bomb that by shear fluke I missed being in the middle of due to a petty disagreement with my father.

I had been given free tickets to go and see the London Leopards Basketball team play at the London arena and that location would have been the route I would have used to get there at the time of it going off..

This is a sobering account of what he stood for, This is just one account about one such bomb that he thought was needed to further his cause.......

One exploded outside Boots and McDonald's,and one outside the Argos catalogue store. The area was crowded with shoppers. Witnesses said that shoppers fled from the first explosion into the path of the second. It was later found that the bombs had been placed inside cast-iron litter bins, causing large amounts of shrapnel. Buses were organized to ferry people away from the scene and 20 paramedics and crews from 17 ambulances were sent to deal with the aftermath.Three-year-old Johnathan Ball died at the scene. He had been in town with his babysitter, shopping for a Mother's Day card. The second victim, 12-year-old Tim Parry, was gravely wounded. He died on 25 March 1993 when doctors switched his life support machine off, having asked permission to do so from his family,


Looks like hell is filling up fast in 2017, first rocky now this...


RA

a reply to: djz3ro

I grew up hating the guy due to being just about old enough to remember IRA bombings on the mainland. A mate was injured in the Arndale bombing - minor cuts and grazes.

Since then, I rate him as a top guy. Compromise, forgiveness and strong principles. Not many politicians have had the backbone or the bollocks of McGuiness.

He grew to be a statesman in the original sense and not in that current way of 'travelling salesman' and 'backroom dealer.'

Obviously, he'll remain a divisive figure because emotions are still strong.

originally posted by: slider1982
a reply to: djz3ro

I reserve any notion of R.I.P,

I was caught up in two IRA bombings growing up and very nearly got caught up in the Docklands Bomb that by shear fluke I missed being in the middle of due to a petty disagreement with my father.

I had been given free tickets to go and see the London Leopards Basketball team play at the London arena and that location would have been the route I would have used to get there at the time of it going off..

I am sorry to hear that, it must have been a very scary experience but I am glad you are here to tell your tale. (I have never agreed with the I.R.A (in fact I was raised in a Protestant household). The Docklands Bombing happened (iirc) right around the time McGuinness was inverstigated by The Cook Report and told the nation he had never been in the I.R.A which was a blatant lie.

Who do you mean by Rocky?

originally posted by: djz3ro

originally posted by: slider1982
a reply to: djz3ro

I reserve any notion of R.I.P,

I was caught up in two IRA bombings growing up and very nearly got caught up in the Docklands Bomb that by shear fluke I missed being in the middle of due to a petty disagreement with my father.

I had been given free tickets to go and see the London Leopards Basketball team play at the London arena and that location would have been the route I would have used to get there at the time of it going off..

I am sorry to hear that, it must have been a very scary experience but I am glad you are here to tell your tale. (I have never agreed with the I.R.A (in fact I was raised in a Protestant household). The Docklands Bombing happened (iirc) right around the time McGuinness was inverstigated by The Cook Report and told the nation he had never been in the I.R.A which was a blatant lie.

Who do you mean by Rocky?

Rocky= Rockefeller,

Honestly it was such a everyday thing back then that it was never really a shock, I heard numerous bombs going off in the 90's, I remember the Bishopsgate bomb sound even though we lived 10 miles away.. Paddington, Victoria etc etc etc all huge explosions.. Anyone living in London at the time would no doubt be able to tell you the same thing.

I remember coming back into central London after a holiday to Euro Disney in I guess the summer of 1992 and walking straight into a bomb scare.. I was in central London a lot when I was a kid and nearly everyday my journey was disrupted by these clowns..

I would ask anyone that sheds a tear to look at the history of IRA bombs and the civilians that where killed, I personally do not care what he did in later life maybe it was that little inner voice asking him what had he done??.. It takes a very sad and sick person to do what he did, and in the end for what?????....


RA

a reply to: djz3ro

good riddence to the cnut - i hope his death was agonising

originally posted by: slider1982


Rocky= Rockefeller,

I missed that news, about bloody time.

originally posted by: slider1982
Honestly it was such a everyday thing back then that it was never really a shock, I heard numerous bombs going off in the 90's, I remember the Bishopsgate bomb sound even though we lived 10 miles away.. Paddington, Victoria etc etc etc all huge explosions.. Anyone living in London at the time would no doubt be able to tell you the same thing.

I remember coming back into central London after a holiday to Euro Disney in I guess the summer of 1992 and walking straight into a bomb scare.. I was in central London a lot when I was a kid and nearly everyday my journey was disrupted by these clowns..

Living in NE Scotland I was far away from the troubles but I remember on the news, every week seemed to bring another explosion or some kind of attack. It is bizarre how things like that become normalised when it happens so often.

originally posted by: slider1982
I would ask anyone that sheds a tear to look at the history of IRA bombs and the civilians that where killed, I personally do not care what he did in later life maybe it was that little inner voice asking him what had he done??.. It takes a very sad and sick person to do what he did, and in the end for what?????....

Yeah, they never achieved their goal, I guess if they'd gone about it a different way they might have had more success but they didn't and Western Governments tend not to kowtow to terrorists. I do think that his move into politics had come after some soul searching and I suppose his two prison sentences would have helped. I have a lot of respect for a man who can change his ways though, it's not something you see to often. That being said all the good he did is of course tainted by the man he was before...

OK so he might have had a bad past, but he did a lot to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
He ended up renouncing violence, and that can only be a good thing, right?
RIP.

Deeply conflicted by this news. On the one hand his hands were covered in blood - right to the armpits. He was the former chief of staff of the IRA and he was behind some of the most terrible events of the Troubles. He ordered the deaths of people. Innocent people. On the other hand he became convinced that it wasn't worth it, that the violence had to end, that peace was desperately needed. Too bad that it took him years to realise that.
It isn't until you go to somewhere like Belfast and see the so-called Peace Walls that you start to comprehend the level of hate that once - and to some extent still - existed in Northern Ireland.

RIP Martin.

He was an evil man who had the deaths of dozens of innocent people on his hands.

He was a senior member of the Army Council and was operational 2IC of PIRA for some time. He was an active bomber and he personally orchestrated dozens of operations which resulted in the deaths of countless civilians, police and military personnel, often in front of their families and children.

The only reason he went into politics was because the British had infiltrated PIRA to the top levels, and he was massively compromised. This made him a liability and too dangerous to carry on at operational level. He knew that the IRA couldn't win with violence, so jumped ship while he still could. If he thought that republican aims could have been achieved with the bullet and the bomb he would have had no qualms about carrying on the killings.

Praising him is like thanking a shark for biting off your legs but not killing you.

I hope his death was slow and painful. God knows he caused enough suffering to earn it.

a reply to: PaddyInf

If you are going to quote Norman Tebbit you could at least give him credit for it.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

I didn't know that I had - Looks like he read the same Int briefs as me in the 90s. It was common knowledge to the SF at the time.

originally posted by: PaddyInf
a reply to: Soloprotocol

I didn't know that I had - Looks like he read the same Int briefs as me in the 90s. It was common knowledge to the SF at the time.

Who did Mcgartland not compromise.

a reply to: djz3ro

Must admit I'm surprised it happened so soon but after seeing his press conference when he stepped aside I can't say I'm shocked.
Martin McGuinness was a towering figure in British politics and Irish Republicanism , they say one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist and Martin McGuinness certainly fits both those descriptions , some will mourn his passing others not but his place in history is sealed , like him or not he was pivotal to bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

a reply to: Kandinsky
Spot on mate , without McGuinness there would have been no Good Friday agreement , he put his reputation and life on the line for peace and eventually brought the IRA to understand that it was the only way forward.

RiP Mr McGuinness..

Martin McGuinness helped end the "troubles" and brokered the good friday agreement.

The biggest terrorist back then was Maggie Thatcher, a lot of blood on her hands.

Martin brought peace to my country, he got the IRA to lay down their arms

R.I.P. Martin

Thatcher let the hunger strikers die because they refused to wear prison clothes and wanted to wear their own. It only ended because the mothers of the next in line to die fought to end the hunger strike.
What about all the innocent civilians the british army killed? Bloody Sunday? And a hell of a lot in Afghanistan, Iraq etc.

Say what you like about the IRA they were fighting the british crown forces, who murdered a lot of civilians in Northern Ireland.
They gave severe beatings to teenagers because they were Catholics, and gave information to the UDA who used it to murder Catholics.

Martin may be a scumbag to some, but to a lot of people he was a soldier fighting for freedom, a great leader and a top politician.

Tell that to my uncle who was caught in the Birmingham pub bombings, Who had to have operations for years. He was innocent too, had to lie trapped next to his dead best friend till they could dig him out.

Peace in Ireland is great for all, but McGuinness was a scumbag and doesn't deserve to be called a hero.

I would have more sympathy for him if he'd shown some contrition. A bit of regret for the blood on his hands. Some inkling that the murders he ordered required a bit of reconciliation.

Instead he sat there stony-faced and arrogant of the harm he caused.

He came to the peace table because it was getting too hot for him. Had he not he would be in prision, or dead. By the time peace broke out his IRA was being systematically dismantled by the security forces.