A British lord, a Derry republican and some unfinished business
He has already admitted to being second in command of the Provisional IRA in Derry on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers shot and killed 14 civil rights demonstrators.
Since the inquiry began, there has been a disproportionate focus on McGuinness and the role of the Provisional IRA on Bloody Sunday a lot more interest than has been given to the actions of the soldiers who, as we all know, shot and killed 14 unarmed civilians. Everyone in Derry knows it anyway.
McGuinness faced a barrage of allegations that he had been actively involved in a range of activities on Bloody Sunday. Most of these allegations came from unnamed British agents and unidentified informers.
McGuinness refused to reveal the whereabouts of the main IRA arms dump on Bloody Sunday, saying he was adhering to a republican code of honour.
Lord Saville interjected that it appeared this code of honour came before the desire of the families of the dead and injured to get to the truth about Bloody Sunday.
The irony of an English lord telling a Derry republican about the truth of Bloody Sunday was seemingly lost on the inquiry chairman.
But this attitude and indeed McGuinness faced this kind of questioning throughout his testimony reveals something about the mindset of the British establishment. There have been strenuous efforts by the British government to divert attention away from the British army and onto the IRA.
What is clear from the questioning of McGuinness is that the inquiry refuses to consider the possibility that so little has come to light about the IRA on Bloody Sunday simply because it was not active that day.
Yet it is possible that McGuinness could be the only one to see the inside of a jail cell for not divulging the names of other IRA members who were, in truth, inactive that day.
Will the British give us the names of the soldiers who murdered 14 civil rights marchers? I doubt it.
Over 30 years have passed and the British government still won't accept responsibility for their soldiers' actions in Derry. They still want to throw the blame somewhere else (conveniently, the IRA).
The people of Derry know the truth; it is time the rest of the world knew it, too.
Conor Foley,
Cathedral View,
Ardfert,
Co Kerry.
