Martin McGuinness, Irish rebel turned politician, dies at 66
Martin McGuinness emerged as one of the most prominent players in the conflict between mostly Catholic republicans who wanted a united Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists who favoured continued ties with the UK, a conflagration which claimed 3,500 lives
Martin McGuinness, the former Irish Republican Army commander who laid down his arms and turned peacemaker to help end Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict, died on Tuesday after a decade as deputy first minister of the British province.
As a young street fighter in Londonderry and later as a politician and statesman, McGuinness saw his mission as defending the rights of the Catholic minority against the pro-British Protestants who for decades dominated Northern Ireland.
But for his critics, that cause was never enough to justify the IRA’s campaign of bombings and shootings that killed hundreds of British soldiers and civilians.
In his later years McGuinness was hailed as a peacemaker for negotiating the 1998 peace deal, sharing power with his bitterest enemy and shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth, though the gestures were condemned by some former comrades as treachery.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement that while she could not condone the “path he took” earlier in life, he went on to make a historic contribution to the search for peace.
“While we certainly didn’t always see eye-to-eye even in later years, as deputy First Minister for nearly a decade, he was one of the pioneers of implementing cross community power sharing in Northern Ireland,” said the statement.