McGuinness: Bloody Sunday shooting accusation 'bogus'

Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness announced today he had instructed his legal team to play no part in the cross-examination of MI5 agents due to give evidence to the Bloody Sunday tribunal this week.

Mr McGuinness, who has admitted being the Provisional IRA’s number two in Derry on Bloody Sunday, has denied claims by an agent known only as Infliction that he fired the first shot on Bloody Sunday.

Infliction was not being called to give evidence at the inquiry but his handlers will give evidence to the inquiry tomorrow.

Mr McGuinness, speaking in Belfast today, described the allegation as “bogus and wholly unsubstantiated” and condemned the decision that there would be no opportunity for either his lawyers or those representing the Bloody Sunday families to cross-examine the witness or challenge the allegation.

Mr McGuinness said: “My legal team have, additionally, been informed that the cross-examination of the various British Intelligence ’handlers’ and other British security service officers who are being called to authenticate the evidence of unnamed informers, will be restricted in an unprecedented manner.”

Mr McGuinness said that following consultation with his legal representatives “I have decided that they should not participate in this sham of a cross-examination”.

He said in circumstances where those who allegedly made the allegations were not to be brought before the tribunal then the very least that could be expected was that a rigorous investigation of those who sought to bring the allegations to the tribunal would be allowed.

“I am being denied the right to challenge unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations made about me by an anonymous individual.

“I have therefore instructed my lawyers not to engage in this restricted and meaningless form of cross-examination,” said Mr McGuinness.

He said his lawyers appeared before the tribunal, currently sitting in London, this morning to outline directly his reasons for the decision.

He said: “Unlike Infliction I will be appearing in person before the tribunal when it returns to Derry.”

Mr McGuinness described the way the inquiry was handling evidence of intelligence agents as "a farce and a sham".

He said all material relating to the issue had been either heavily edited or withheld, including any internal assessment of the reliability of any particular informant.

The cross-examination of the witnesses was to be severely restricted as the result of a ruling by the tribunal, he said.

Questions had to be submitted in writing first together with the reasons why the questions were being asked.

“These will then be shown to the witnesses and their representatives who can object to the questions.

“Only then can the questions be put with the witnesses able to give carefully prepared answers.”

Mr McGuinness said there would be no way of establishing whether Infliction really existed.