McGuinness faxes statement to inquiry

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness today faxed a draft statement to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry about what he was doing that day.

The move followed weekend revelations that the leading republican, now the Northern Ireland Education Minister, was preparing to tell the tribunal he was the IRA's second-in-command in Derry that day.

No mention was made of the development as public sittings at the city’s Guildhall resumed to hear from more people who witnessed the Army shootings in January 1972 which left 13 Catholic men dead.

However, inquiry sources confirmed that a preliminary statement from Mr McGuinness was faxed through this morning.

It emerged yesterday that Mr McGuinness would make a statement to the Inquiry confirming he was the Derry IRA "adjutant" on Bloody Sunday.

But no date had been set for him to appear at the inquiry.

There have already been calls for the Government to monitor his statement and charge him with IRA membership following any confession.

Now that he has made a statement he will, like the hundreds of others who have made one, be liable to be called to give evidence in person and face cross-examination by lawyers representing both the families of those who died and the security forces.

The prosecution demand came from Northern Ireland Assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr, Justice spokesman in the hardline Democratic Unionist Party.

Despite the fact that there is a degree of immunity from prosecution for witnesses to the Inquiry, he said: "If Martin McGuinness takes the opportunity to confess his role as an IRA commander, then I think the Government have a duty to ensure that after that confession he is arrested and charged with IRA membership."

Mr Paisley added: "I think the due process of law should take its role and the Education Minister should end up in jail."

Sources said Mr McGuinness will tell the tribunal that armed IRA members were in the Creggan and Brandywell area of Derry during the march on January 30 1972, but that it had been agreed by the organisation in advance the event should be peaceful.

He will reject outright as "rubbish and a lie" allegations made during the Bloody Sunday inquiry that he fired the first shot on the fateful day.

He will also confirm to the inquiry that the IRA was asked to accept that Derry "should be peaceful to facilitate the march".

At a meeting with the Derry IRA Operating Commander, Mr McGuinness expressed support for the proposal and on the day before the march he was "instructed to inform all volunteers that the IRA would not engage militarily with the British forces to ensure that the civil rights march passed off peacefully", a source said.

Everyone Mr McGuinness spoke to agreed with the proposal, he will say.

An authoritative source said: "Eight IRA volunteers in two units were armed but were instructed to remain in the Creggan and the Brandywell.

"All other IRA weapons were placed in a closed dump and all other volunteers, other than those in the Brandywell and Creggan, were told they could go to the march or spend the day with their families."

Mr McGuinness will tell the inquiry that he stayed with the march from beginning to end.

Stormont finance Minister Mark Durkan, who represents the Derry area, said the statement would not come as a surprise to people in the area.

"I don't think anything that has been discussed today is particularly news to anybody in Derry," he said.

Mr Durkan did not believe it would cause problems in the power-sharing Executive.

"Again I don’t believe it’s news to any members of the Executive either," he added.