Republican News · Thursday 11 October 2001

McGuinness reports 'no coincidence'

Sinn FÈin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness has rejected as "bogus, malicious rubbish", media reports that he has been elected as Chief of Staff of the IRA.

McGuinness said that the stories, printed in The Observer and Daily Telegraph, at the weekend, were politically motivated.

"It is no coincidence that these stories from the same journalists and quoting the same sources surface every time there is a crisis in the political process," he said.

The timing of the reports was obviously designed "to give cover and credence" to Monday's Assembly motion from unionism calling for Sinn FÈin's exclusion from the Executive, he pointed out. This has a become a regular feature throughout the peace process, he said.

"I have no doubt that this non-story has been released by the usual securocrats who have never missed an opportunity to undermine the Irish peace process and try to bolster the wrecking tactics deployed politically by David Trimble."

The reports were indeed used by unionism during the Assembly debate. While, previously, unionism had maintained the position that the arms issue was to be dealt with by the IRA, exclusively, in comments made to the media, the DUP's Ian Paisley junior went one further. Now that McGuinness was supposedly the Chief of Staff of the IRA, that responsibility could be narrowed down to one individual.

"Mr McGuinness tells us that he would very much like to see decommissioning, McGuinness tells us that it could not happen soon enough," opined Paisley the Younger. "If he is the Chief of Staff then clearly he has a very important role to play and it is clearly down to him to ensure that the IRA honour their word."