McGuinness: Judge me as a peacemaker

Martin McGuinness has insisted that voters will not focus on his IRA past in the Irish presidential contest and will instead judge him on his record as a peacemaker.

As the Sinn Féin veteran formally informed the Stormont Assembly of his decision to temporarily step down as the North's Deputy First Minister to bid for the presidency, he made clear he did not intend to be sidetracked by what he described as a "media fixation" with his time as a paramilitary commander.