Candlelit vigil as hundreds mourn their 'hero' Martin McGuinness
A candlelit vigil is held in the republican heartland of west Belfast, hours after his coffin is accompanied through Derry.
Wednesday 22 March 2017 06:39, UK
-
![Martin McGuinness appeared in a Dublin Special Criminal Court on charges under Offences Against the State Act on charges relating to membership of the IRA, 1973]()
Image: Martin McGuinness appeared in a Dublin Special Criminal Court on charges under Offences Against the State Act relating to membership of the IRA, 1973 -
![erry Adams and Martin McGuinness, 1987]()
Image: President of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, and West Belfast MP, Martin McGuinness, at the funeral of Patrick Kelly, a reputed IRA commander, in East Tyrone, 1987 -
![McGuinness assists an injured man at Milltown Cemetary, Belfast, after an attack at the funerals of three IRA members killed in Gibraltar, 1988]()
Image: McGuinness assists an injured man at Milltown Cemetery, Belfast, after an attack at the funerals of three IRA members killed in Gibraltar, 1988 -
![Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams join mourners at the funeral of IRA man Thomas Begley in Belfast]()
Image: Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams join mourners at the funeral of IRA man Thomas Begley in Belfast, 1993 -
![Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness lead a Republican parade in Belfast, commemorating 25 years of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland, 1994]()
Image: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness lead a Republican parade in Belfast, commemorating 25 years of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland, 1994 -
![Martin McGuinness attending a news conference in the House of Commons to mark the first anniversary of the IRA ceasefire in 1995]()
Image: Martin McGuinness attending a news conference in the House of Commons to mark the first anniversary of the IRA ceasefire in 1995 -
![McGuinness appeals to the Nationalists on the walls of Londonderry not to react violently to the RUC as police moved them from the path of the Apprentice Boys march]()
Image: McGuinness appeals to Nationalists in Londonderry not to react violently to the RUC as police moved them from the path of the Apprentice Boys, 1995 -
![Chief Negotiator for Sinn Fein Martin McGuinness shut out from the Ulster talks at Stormont speaks to the media through a fence, 1996]()
Image: McGuinness is shut out of talks at Stormont and speaks to the media through a fence in 1996 -
![Martin McGuinness at Holloway Prison where he visited pregnant Roisin McAliskey, who was fighting extradition to Germany on bombing charges, 1997]()
Image: McGuinness at Holloway Prison where he visited pregnant Roisin McAliskey, who was fighting extradition to Germany on bombing charges in 1997 -
![Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness pledged to fight the ban imposed on Sinn Fein at the House of Commons, 1997]()
Image: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness pledge to fight the ban imposed on Sinn Fein at the House of Commons, 1997 -
![Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness speak to the press before a meeting of the British-Irish Council at Stormont, 2007]()
Image: Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness speak to the press before a meeting of the British-Irish Council, 2007 -
![The Prince of Wales shakes hands with Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness outside St Patrick's Church in Belfast, 2015]()
Image: The Prince of Wales shakes hands with Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness outside St Patrick's Church in Belfast, 2015
Hundreds of people gathered to pay tribute to Martin McGuinness after his death at the age of 66.
A candlelit vigil has been held in the republican heartland off the Falls Road in west Belfast.
It took place hours after crowds in Londonderry accompanied his coffin on his final journey home to his Bogside neighbourhood.
The Northern Ireland Assembly will be recalled on Wednesday to mark Mr McGuinness' death.
The former deputy first minister and IRA commander
Crowds in Belfast held black flags on Tuesday night and sang the republican ballad I Wish I Was Back Home In Derry.
Priest Gary Donegan hailed Mr McGuinness' contribution to the peace process as he addressed the vigil.
"Martin was a hero in life and a hero in death," he said.
In Mr McGuinness' hometown, crowds braved snow and sleet to accompany his coffin, which was draped in an Irish tricolour, from the funeral parlour to his home.
Another tricolour flag flew at half-mast near the Bogside's landmark Free Derry Corner.
One woman at the Londonderry vigil, Bernadette Adams, told Sky News' Tom Parmenter: "My children and my grandchildren are in peace now and he done that for us. It wouldn't have happened, only for Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley."
An emotional Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said his long-time friend was a passionate republican who worked tirelessly for reconciliation.
But while thousands of republicans hailed the legacy of Mr McGuinness, his death has drawn a very different response from the many victims of the IRA.
Some bereaved relatives have not forgiven him for his paramilitary past.
John Eaglesham, whose father - a postman and part-time soldier - was shot dead by the IRA in 1978, said: "People say about what he has done for the peace process.
"They seem to forget that for a very, very long time he wasn't part of the solution he was part of the problem, in fact he was the main part of the problem."
Stephen Gault, whose father Samuel died in the 1987 Poppy Day bombing in Enniskillen, said he would remember Mr McGuinness only as a "terrorist".
And former British government minister Norman Tebbit said he hoped Mr McGuinness is
Mr Tebbit survived the 1984 Brighton bombing which targeted the Conservative party conference, but his wife Margaret was left paralysed.
The IRA's attempt to assassinate then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher was among the most notorious of numerous attacks on the British mainland during the decades of violence known as the Troubles.
In 1994 the IRA declared an end to its campaign of violence and Mr Adams appointed Mr McGuinness as Sinn Fein's chief negotiator.
He played a key role in negotiating the landmark Good Friday agreement four years later and ended up sharing power in 2007 with his one-time foe, Democratic Unionist leader Dr Ian Paisley.
Mr McGuinness' last political act was to resign as deputy first minister in January over the "cash for ash" scandal, a move which triggered a snap election.