McGuinness defends spending cuts

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness has today defended his role in handling cuts in the North while his party is opposing cuts in the Republic.

Mr McGuinness claimed his party faced £4bn (€4.7bn) in cuts imposed on Stormont by the British government but had successfully eased the burden by devising a budget plan with more than £1bn (€1.17bn) of revenue-raising ideas.