Martin McGuinness - Leaving the past behind to become advocate for peace

Once an IRA leader, Martin McGuinness left his past behind to become one of the major players in Northern Ireland’s peace process.

His unlikely journey took him from being second-in-command of the Provisionals in Derry to deputy first minister at Stormont. He forged such a good working relationship with former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley that they were dubbed “the Chuckle Brothers”.

But it was his more strained relationships with Mr Paisley’s successors, Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster, that led to continual difficulties at the top of the power-sharing executive. In recent months he has been plagued by ill health.