Former IRA chief turned Irish political leader dies

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

A former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander turned politician who was crucial to Northern Ireland’s peace process died early on Tuesday, just weeks after quitting as the region’s Deputy First Minister.

When Martin McGuinness, 66, stepped down from the role he triggered the collapse of a power-sharing parliament run by Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists.

McGuinness, leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, had developed a rare heart condition.

One of the key figures of the peace process and a former senior leader of the IRA, McGuinness played a prominent role in Irish politics.

McGuinness first came to prominence during serious unrest in Londonderry (known as Derry by Irish nationalists) during the early years of the Troubles -- a sustained period of violence between 1969 and 1998.

He earned a reputation as a hardline leader of a resurgent IRA which fought a violent campaign to create a united Ireland, wholly independent from the U.K.

McGuinness’s reputation as a physical-force republican was thought to have helped secure IRA members’ backing for a switch to electoral politics and a ceasefire in 1994.

The Belfast Agreement of 1998 laid the foundation for a peace deal which fell short of the IRA’s goal of a united Ireland, but the movement largely remained united behind the leadership of McGuinness and his longtime colleague, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

Adams paid tribute to his colleague, saying: “He was a passionate republican who worked tirelessly for peace and reconciliation and for the reunification of his country.”

McGuinness later become a lawmaker in the British parliament although, in line with Sinn Fein policy, he did not take his seat in Westminster.

In May 2007 he became Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, working closely with First Minister Ian Paisley -- a former firebrand pro-British leader. An unlikely friendship between the two became the subject of a 2016 feature film.

In 2011 McGuinness ran in the Irish presidential election, coming third but also undermining leading independent candidate Sean Gallagher in a live TV debate -- an event which likely cost Gallagher the presidency.

In June 2012 a photograph of the one-time IRA leader shaking hands with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Belfast generated international coverage.

Tributes were led on Tuesday by Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins who said the country would “miss the leadership he gave”.

However, the IRA’s legacy of violence remained with many people. Colin Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim died after an IRA bombing in Warrington, England in 1993 told the BBC:

“I don’t forgive the IRA, nor does my wife, nor do my children. But, setting aside forgiveness, the simple fact is I found Martin McGuinness an easy and pleasant man to talk to -- a man who I believe was sincere in his desire for peace, for maintaining the peace process at all costs."

Northern Ireland’s parliament remains suspended following an election earlier this month in which McGuinness’s Sinn Fein performed strongly, coming in only one seat behind their unionist opponents.

Time for reestablishing the power-sharing assembly is running out, with fresh elections expected soon if the parties fail to reach a deal.