Martin McGuinness

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Martin McGuinness (2009)

James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( Irish : Máirtín Mag Aonghusa ; born May 23, 1950 in Derry ; † March 21, 2017 ibid) was a Northern Irish politician .

He was a member of the Irish Republican party Sinn Féin and from 2007 to 2017 the incumbent Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland . On January 9, 2017, he resigned from this office for health reasons.

Life

IRA fighter

McGuinness grew up in a large Catholic family. His third first name is the family name of the then Pope Pius XII. ( Eugenio Pacelli ). He attended the Christian Brothers vocational school in his hometown. Then he worked as a butcher. After the Northern Ireland conflict broke out in 1969 , he joined the Provisional IRA at the age of 20 and rose rapidly. When British soldiers shot 14 demonstrators on January 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday , he was already the "number two" of the IRA in Derry. After finding 113 kilograms of explosives and 5,000 rounds of ammunition in his car, he was arrested in 1973 and sentenced to six months in prison by the Special Criminal Court of the Republic of Ireland . McGuinness however refused to recognize the court.

From 1978 to 1982 he was Chief of Staff (i.e., the highest military representative) of the Provisional IRA.

After his release and a further conviction in the Republic of Ireland for membership in the IRA, his name recognition rose in the Sinn Féin party. In 1982 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly , but did not take his seat because of Sinn Fein's policy of abstentionism. In the same year he was banned from entering the UK through the Prevention of Terrorism law.

Working in the peace process and in Northern Irish self-government

McGuinness later became the chief negotiator of Sinn Féin on the way to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. In 1997, the Mid Ulster constituency elected him to the British Parliament. After the Good Friday Agreement, he was elected to the Northern Irish Parliament in 1999. From 1999 to 2002 he was Northern Ireland's Minister for Education.

He was re-elected to Parliament in Westminster in 2001 but, like all other Sinn Féin MPs, refused to take this seat. In November 2003, he admitted that he had been deputy commander of the Provisional IRA (PIRA) in Derry in 1972. However, he declined to reveal any further names or information about other PIRA members. In 2005 the Irish government claimed that McGuinness was a member of the IRA Army Council with Gerry Adams and Martin Ferris . McGuinness denied this with the note that he was no longer a member of the IRA.

After lengthy negotiations, McGuinness formed an all-party government on May 8, 2007, together with the Protestant pastor Ian Paisley , then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which they jointly presided over as heads of government until Paisley resigned in 2008. Since then, McGuinness has served at Peter Robinson’s side . In the cabinet, the DUP has five ministerial posts, Sinn Féin sends four ministers, while the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party has two cabinet members and the Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party has one cabinet member. Paisley and McGuinness agreed right from the start, among other things, to urge the British Chancellor of the Exchequer to cut corporate tax to 12.5% ​​in order to stimulate the economy like in the Republic of Ireland.

On January 9, 2017, McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister. The reason given was the developing scandal surrounding the unsuccessful promotion of renewable energies ( Renewable Heat Incentive , “ cash-for-ash scandal”), for which the incumbent First Minister Arlene Foster was held responsible. However, there had been speculation about possible serious health problems McGuinness' in the months before. On January 12, 2017, the Irish Times made public that McGuinness had a rare form of amyloidosis (ATTR amyloidosis). McGuinness expressed anger at the release of his illness data, which he considers a private matter. On January 19, 2017, he declared that due to his poor state of health, he would not be able to run the elections triggered by his resignation as Deputy First Minister, and that he would therefore withdraw from active politics. Michelle O'Neill was elected to succeed him as party leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland .

Presidential nomination in the Republic of Ireland

McGuinness ran as a Sinn Féin candidate in the Irish presidential election in October 2011 and came third with 13.7% of the valid votes. McGuinness was partly controversial in the population due to critical statements. Criticism of him was expressed in some newspapers. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent the media coverage of him harmed his election result.

Another topic of his election campaign that was covered in the German media was McGuinness' resolute attitude towards regulating banks. He emphasized the great importance of government regulation of the banking system in order to protect citizens' incomes and invest less money in banks. He campaigned against corruption and his demand “We must stop the brown envelope culture” attacked bribery and lobbying. For the time of the election campaign, John O'Dowd , a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Upper Bann constituency, was appointed as acting deputy to the office of the first deputy minister.

When, after the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in April 2013, people in Great Britain and Ireland celebrated their deaths on the streets because of their political decisions, McGuinness asked citizens to refrain from cheering and street celebrations:

"Resist celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher, she was not a Peacemaker but it is a mistake to allow her death to poison our minds."

“Do not be carried away to celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher; she was not a peacemaker, but it would be a mistake if her death poisoned our thoughts. "

Web links

Commons : Martin McGuinness  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Martin McGuinness dies after short illness . rte.ie. Accessed on March 21, 2017 (English)
  2. ↑ a b Markus Haefliger: From terrorist to peacemaker. Martin McGuinness retires from Northern Ireland politics because of an illness. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of January 21, 2017, p. 5.
  3. ↑ Spiegel Online : “Reconciliation full of mistrust” , May 8, 2007
  4. ↑ Martin McGuinness resigns as Deputy First Minister. The irish Times, January 9, 2017, accessed January 9, 2017 .
  5. ^ Seamus McKinney: Sinn Fein refuses to clarify Martin McGuinness health problems. The Irish News, January 5, 2017, accessed January 9, 2017 .
  6. ^ Martin McGuinness receiving treatment for amyloidosis. The Irish Times, January 12, 2017, accessed January 15, 2017 .
  7. ^ Martin McGuinness slams Irish Times for revealing medical diagnosis. Irish Central, January 13, 2017, accessed January 15, 2017 .
  8. ^ Henry McDonald: Martin McGuinness quits politics to recover from serious illness. The Guardian , January 19, 2017, accessed January 20, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Presidential Election October 27, 2011 at ww.electionsireland.org (Retrieved June 28, 2012).
  10. ^ John O'Dowd replacing McGuinness as deputy first minister BBC News, September 19, 2011
  11. ↑ Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness urges people to stop celebrating Margaret Thatcher's death . irishcentral.com. Accessed on March 21, 2017 (English)
personal data
SURNAME McGuinness, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McGuinness, James Martin Pacelli (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish Republican politician, Member of the House of Commons and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Derry , Northern Ireland , UK
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 2017
Place of death Derry , Northern Ireland , UK