Republican News · Thursday 22 November 2001

Clarke's book "a load of rubbish" - McGuinness

Martin McGuinness has dismissed a Book by Sunday Times columnist Liam Clarke and his wife Kathy Johnston as an attempt to return to the failed policy of demonising the Sinn Féin leadership.

"My focus and the focus of the Sinn Féin leadership is on building peace in Ireland not responding to this nonsense," he said, while party colleague Mitchel McLaughlin added that "Liam Clarke has no credibility among the republican and nationalist community. He has built his career not on investigative journalism but by quoting anonymous British Military sources.

"This book is an attempt to undermine and undervalue the crucial role Martin McGuinness has played in building the Irish Peace Process. It is also a blatant attempt to defend and justify the actions of the British Army on Bloody Sunday. It comes as no surprise however, given the background of the authors, and will be dismissed by most people for the cynical exercise that it is."