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03/02/2017
Martin McGuinness Nominated For Peace Prize
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness has been nominated for a peace prize.
The former Northern Ireland deputy first Minister recently stepped down from politics due to ill health.
Mr McGuinness has been shortlisted for the 2016 Tipperary International Peace Award.
Other contenders for the award include human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, former Ukranian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.
Mr McGuinness, a former IRA Commander, spent almost 10 years at the helm of the government with the late Ian Paisley and then DUP leaders Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster.
Sinn Féin MEP Liadh Ní Riada said: "Martin McGuinness has proven himself to be a determined and fearless campaigner for peace, justice and freedom," she said.
"Even when under death threat from dissidents and loyalists he continued to publicly and proudly defend the peace process and work to embed it.
"He formed lasting friendships with former enemies and in a historic gesture of friendship and reconciliation to the unionist community he met with the English Queen.
"He continued to try and make the Assembly work with an increasingly intransigent DUP and said himself that stepping down as Joint First Minister, while the right thing to do, broke his heart.
"He has never shied away from his past and has never been anything other than proud of his role in fighting for the people of Derry and Ireland. Nor, however, has he ever sought to glorify that conflict or his role in it and indeed it was his experience of war that has made him such a courageous and tenacious supporter and defender of the Peace Process.
"When asked in a TV3 documentary if death threats ever put him off his work he said he would die happily for peace.
"The Tipperary Peace Prize shortlist is an impressive group of outstanding people and organisations. They have all done extraordinary things to make this world a better place. Martin McGuinness can stand proudly alongside all of them."
However, TUV East Londonderry candidate Jordon Armstrong called for the people behind the award to "seriously reconsider".
He said: "Martin McGuinness was, by his own admission, an IRA commander. The IRA was the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisation in Western Europe. It brought heartache and death to countless homes across Northern Ireland.
"McGuinness remains unrepentant about his role in that terrorism. What the Tipperary Peace Award Committee are really saying is that you can be involved in a terrorist organisation and be recognised for a contribution towards peace without expressing one scintilla of remorse or regret of the suffering you and your organisation caused.
"One wonders what the family of Frank Hegarty will make of this news. Remember that he was shot in the head by the IRA as an alleged informer after McGuinness gave them assurances that Frank would not be harmed if he came home to Londonderry.
"The recent comments of DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr about McGuinness saving lives have helped to feed into this twisted narrative."
(CD/LM)
The former Northern Ireland deputy first Minister recently stepped down from politics due to ill health.
Mr McGuinness has been shortlisted for the 2016 Tipperary International Peace Award.
Other contenders for the award include human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, former Ukranian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.
Mr McGuinness, a former IRA Commander, spent almost 10 years at the helm of the government with the late Ian Paisley and then DUP leaders Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster.
Sinn Féin MEP Liadh Ní Riada said: "Martin McGuinness has proven himself to be a determined and fearless campaigner for peace, justice and freedom," she said.
"Even when under death threat from dissidents and loyalists he continued to publicly and proudly defend the peace process and work to embed it.
"He formed lasting friendships with former enemies and in a historic gesture of friendship and reconciliation to the unionist community he met with the English Queen.
"He continued to try and make the Assembly work with an increasingly intransigent DUP and said himself that stepping down as Joint First Minister, while the right thing to do, broke his heart.
"He has never shied away from his past and has never been anything other than proud of his role in fighting for the people of Derry and Ireland. Nor, however, has he ever sought to glorify that conflict or his role in it and indeed it was his experience of war that has made him such a courageous and tenacious supporter and defender of the Peace Process.
"When asked in a TV3 documentary if death threats ever put him off his work he said he would die happily for peace.
"The Tipperary Peace Prize shortlist is an impressive group of outstanding people and organisations. They have all done extraordinary things to make this world a better place. Martin McGuinness can stand proudly alongside all of them."
However, TUV East Londonderry candidate Jordon Armstrong called for the people behind the award to "seriously reconsider".
He said: "Martin McGuinness was, by his own admission, an IRA commander. The IRA was the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisation in Western Europe. It brought heartache and death to countless homes across Northern Ireland.
"McGuinness remains unrepentant about his role in that terrorism. What the Tipperary Peace Award Committee are really saying is that you can be involved in a terrorist organisation and be recognised for a contribution towards peace without expressing one scintilla of remorse or regret of the suffering you and your organisation caused.
"One wonders what the family of Frank Hegarty will make of this news. Remember that he was shot in the head by the IRA as an alleged informer after McGuinness gave them assurances that Frank would not be harmed if he came home to Londonderry.
"The recent comments of DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr about McGuinness saving lives have helped to feed into this twisted narrative."
(CD/LM)
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