Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister in January, forcing the Northern Ireland Assembly to shut down for a new election, held at the beginning of March. It was already clear the former IRA commander was ill, and he said as much in announcing his decision not to seek to re-election. Now, his death stirs further remembrances of The Troubles, and raises more questions about the future of the province as Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists face the uncertainties of Brexit.
Here is a sample of the first wave of international coverage:
- Mitchell: McGuinness took his people from conflict to peace, through ballots not bullets, RTÉ, video interview with George Mitchell
- What It Was Like to Negotiate With Martin McGuinness, by Jonathan Powell in The Atlantic
- Unionist leaders express appreciation for ‘indispensable’ McGuinness they once reviled, Belfast Newsletter (unionist)
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Lord Tebbit says Martin McGuinness was a ‘coward who posed as a man of peace’, The Irish News (nationalist)
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Ireland knew two Martin McGuinnesses: the man of war and the man of peace, The Irish Times
- Martin McGuinness, an I.R.A. Leader Turned Peacemaker, Dies at 66, The New York Times
“This election is about equality and respect for all our people and integrity in the institutions. Vote SF for the politics of hope not fear.”
–Last tweet of Martin McGuinness, 1 March 2017, just before Sinn Féin‘s historic success in Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
McGuinness and the Queen shake hands in Belfast, July 2012. Probably no other photo says as much about the arc of the former IRA leader’s life.