McGuinness: Judge me as a peacemaker
Martin McGuinness has insisted that voters will not focus on his IRA past in the Irish presidential contest and will instead judge him on his record as a peacemaker.
As the Sinn Féin veteran formally informed the Stormont Assembly of his decision to temporarily step down as the North's Deputy First Minister to bid for the presidency, he made clear he did not intend to be sidetracked by what he described as a "media fixation" with his time as a paramilitary commander.
The Mid Ulster MP said voters had no such preoccupation and claimed he had already received support for his campaign from victims of IRA violence and individuals within the wider unionist/Protestant community.
Mr McGuinness confirmed that Sinn Féin Education Minister John O'Dowd would take on his role in the Office of the Deputy First Minister from tomorrow until next month's election.
"The reality is that people know my past," he said.
"I have put myself before the electorate on countless occasions since 1982 and particularly since 1997 when I was first elected as MP for Mid Ulster.
"In election after election people are well aware (of my past) and have come out in their droves to vote for me knowing that I am absolutely dedicated and committed to a new way forward and I live in the here and now, I am concerned about the future, I am concerned about the economic circumstances within which they live, I am concerned to provide a safe future for their children, a better future and never to see the situation slip back into conflict.
"I have answered all these questions in the past, I have no concerns whatsoever about going into this election campaign, I stand on my record.
"And I have to say, I don't think I would have been invited to the Oval Office on three occasions to meet with three American presidents, or to Johannesburg to meet with Nelson Mandela, or to Brussels to meet with the president of the European Union and indeed many other countries throughout the world if people thought that my credentials in relation to the search for peace were in any way in doubt."
With 17 Sinn Féin members of the Dáil, Mr McGuinness needed at least three extra signatures on his nomination paper to be allowed to stand in the election.
Independent TDs Finian McGrath, Luke ’Ming’ Flanagan, Tom Fleming and Michael Healy Rae have agreed to facilitate his nomination.
Independent candidates Mary Davis and Sean Gallagher officially entered the race a week ago after each secured the necessary support from councils.
They are on course to fight it out with frontrunner Michael D Higgins, of Labour, and Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell.
Independent Senator David Norris used a TV interview on Friday night to say that he would like to re-enter the race, having previously dropped out after it emerged he wrote a clemency letter for his ex-lover who was charged with statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy.
Eurovision song contest winner Dana is expected to declare her intention to run for the office at a press conference in Dublin later this afternoon.
She failed in a bid for the presidency in 1997 and is likely to claim support from some Fianna Fáil members.
Mr McGuinness said he was confident his decision to step aside from Stormont duties for the duration of the campaign would not destabilise the Sinn Féin/Democratic Unionist-led powersharing administration.
Again pressed on his IRA past, the senior republican said he would not be drawn into answering queries on specific IRA incidents as he claimed the media would ask such questions from “now to kingdom come”.
“I think the media are fixated by the past; fortunately for me there’s an awful lot of people who aren’t fixated about the past,” he said.
“Like those people who did come to me over the course of the weekend, people who were clearly had been affected by the fact that their loved ones had been killed as a result of IRA actions and pledged their support for me in this campaign.
“And they (his supporters) aren’t all within the Catholic, nationalist or republican community; quite a number of people in the unionist community, for example when I came out of Aldergrove airport (Co Antrim) on Saturday came over to me and said they wished me all the best in this campaign.
“So I think there is an awful lot of goodwill out there, not just within the nationalist and republican community but also within the unionist and loyalist community.
“People see me as someone who is a peacemaker, someone who for the past 20 years has been working in a very dedicated way to bring about all of the marvellous changes that we have seen and who is absolutely committed to not seeing things slip back.”
He added: “So I place my record before the people of Ireland – they, like the people of Mid Ulster, will make their judgment and I will abide by their decision.”
Mr O’Dowd, who becomes stand-in deputy first minister at midnight, said he would be conducting “business as usual” alongside DUP First Minister Peter Robinson.
He said the party would decide the long-term position in regard to the deputy first minister’s role after the outcome of the election.
“What we will be doing is ensuring that the executive and the assembly run smoothly and it will be representing the best wishes and intentions of the entire community because there’s a lot of work here remains to be completed,” said Mr O’Dowd, who will also remain as education minister.
