McGuinness: Republicans trying to kill me
By politics.co.uk staff
Dissident republican groups are understood to be planning an attempt on the life of deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.
The life-long republican was told of the plot by police in the last 24 hours.
In a statement issued this morning, he said: “It is believed this threat comes from a so-called dissident grouping.
“I have spent my entire adult life engaged in the republican struggle to bring about Irish unity and independence.
“Throughout that time there have been numerous attempts made to silence me and stop me going about my republican work.
“These have come from a variety of British state agencies and their surrogates in the loyalist gangs. It now seems that some of these small groups have now taken their place in that company.”
He continued: “One thing is for certain: neither I nor Sinn Fein has allowed these sorts of threats to stop us representing our community and driving forward the republican agenda in the past and we will not allow it to deflect us from our work in the future.
“The task of building the peace process and advancing republican and democratic goals is far too important for us to let that happen.”
The plot almost certainly stems from comments Mr McGuinness made after the killing of two soldiers and a policeman earlier this year, when he described those who killed them as “traitors”.
