McGuinness: I won’t say sorry for past
The Sinn Féin candidate said he had been a “key part in changing the course of Irish history for the better” and questioned the focus on his past.
“My faith is in the people. There are west Brit elements in and around Dublin — some of them are attached to some sections of the media, others are attached to political parties and were formerly involved in political parties.
“And I say to all of them: I go forward on my record, and my record as a peacemaker, I think, is unequalled anywhere,” he said.
He said he has never hidden his IRA past, and those interested in it were “interested in it in order to derail” his campaign.
“I’ve been very upfront and said that when I was a young person on the streets of Derry, the British army came to my city. The RUC were in my city.
“Both the British army and the RUC murdered people in my city before the IRA fired a shot and I was part of a young generation that decided to stand against them in the Bogside, in Free Derry, and we did stand against them and I make no apologies for that.
“But I do think that when people examine my life and my role in Irish politics they need to examine it in the round. If people want to examine the past, then let’s examine the past of everybody. I’m not going to get into recriminating about the past.”
Asked if he had ever shot anyone or at anyone, he replied: “Why should I stand here now and begin the process of saying, ‘here’s what I did in the IRA?’ What would it be tomorrow morning? It would be a headline, so let’s not be silly.”
The conflict was now in the past and he had risked his life for the peace process, he said. He was speaking at a number of engagements yesterday.
His comments came as his pledge to take only the average industrial wage if elected was criticised as an attempt to “buy” voters by another candidate.
Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell urged Mr McGuinness to “publish his P60 from last year”, adding: “Let’s see if he had the average industrial wage then. Really we should be talking about the future of our country, not somehow trying to buy people. If he’s sincere about this, he will show us that he has lived on that wage for the last number of years.”
Separately, Fianna Fáil will not nominate or endorse a candidate. It means Independents David Norris and Dana are unlikely to secure the 20 Oireachtas signatures they need for a nomination.
