STRAGE DI ENNISKILLEN. McGUINNESS: “ME NE VERGOGNO”
McGuinness ‘ashamed’ of Enniskillen bomb (UTV)
Presidential candidate Martin McGuinness has denied being a senior IRA member at the time of the 1987 Enniskillen bombing – but said he was “ashamed” it happened.
Eleven people were killed in the in the atrocity, while attending a Remembrance Sunday commemoration at the town’s cenotaph.
“It was absolutely terrible and atrocious,” Mr McGuinness told RTÉ. “No, I was not a senior member of the IRA then.”
The Sinn Féin politician – who has previously admitted being an IRA commander in Londonderry, but insists he left in 1974 – added: “I feel ashamed when incidents like that happened in the name of Irish republicanism.”
All seven presidential candidates were taking part in the televised debate, during which Mr McGuiness also said: “I also know journalists if they had their opportunity, they would try to blame me for the 1916 rising and the War of Independence.”
But Fermanagh and South Tyrone DUP MLA Arlene Foster has challenged Mr McGuinness to talk to the Historical Enquiries Team about the no-warning bomb in Enniskillen.
“If Martin McGuinness really believes the murders that day were shameful, then he should have no problem speaking to the HET and answering any questions they have,” she said.
“The speculation for decades has been that the Enniskillen bomb was the work of provos from Londonderry where Martin McGuinness was the second in command of the PIRA.
“Rather than proposing an international truth commission to deal with these matters, it would be much more helpful to the healing process if McGuinness was to tell the truth about this incident to the HET.”
Martin McGuinness will go head to head with David Norris, Dana Rosemary Scallon, Gay Mitchell, Michael D Higgins, Mary Davis and Sean Gallagher when the Republic goes to the polls on October 27.
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