LETTER: Defending assessment of Martin McGuinness

SIR – Noel Harrington (Letters, April 8th) asked to condemn my contribution in The Southern Star, where I fairly and comprehensively assessed the life and times of Martin McGuinness. 

Suit yourself, Noel Harrington, but the truth is out there, whether you accept it or not.

McGuinness was a very dangerous man, and just because Sinn Féin puts a weird spin of the violence of the IRA, it does not mean Martin and his cohorts did not do terrible things, in the name of Ireland, through their terrorism. 

Noel says he will defend Martin who cannot now defend himself in death, but we can be sure there are many from McGuinness’s Derry community who were put in their innocent early graves by Martin and his buddies, who were not defended in life. He had as ‘friends’ the likes of ‘Stakeknife,’ who kept order for Martin et al on the streets and who, by any stretch of the imagination was allowed to be a very dangerous associate because of his apparent usefulness to the real security forces. 

Sinn Féin-IRA has been the major source of information to the ‘establishment’ ... when they were not doing the ‘freedom fighting’ gig, as both roles went hand-in-hand.

John Hume remains a patriot, while – at best – Martin is remembered as a gunman who asked for peace in defeat, and tried to put the best face he could on the outcome thereafter.

Robert Sullivan,

Bantry.