The health of Martin McGuinness, the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, is seriously deteriorating, reports have suggested.
As talks aimed at restoring Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government got under way in Belfast, sources in McGuinness’s native Derry confirmed a story in the Irish News yesterday which said he had been in hospital for the last two weeks.
McGuinness, who was Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator during the peace process, announced his retirement from politics at a press conference in January where he appeared frail. It is understood he has a rare condition that attacks the heart and other vital organs.
The 66-year-old made no appearances during Sinn Fein’s successful assembly election last week and did not attend his local polling station with his wife, Bernie, to vote.
Sinn Fein has said McGuinness’s health is a private matter and it will not discuss it further. The sources in Derry said the former IRA chief of staff, who established a warm friendship with the Democratic Unionist (DUP) founder, Ian Paisley, after power sharing was restored in 2007, was taken to the city’s Altnagelvin hospital when the side effects of his treatment became severe. Previously he was being cared for at home.
McGuinness, who has been a pivotal figure in Irish republicanism over the last 40 years, was replaced as Sinn Fein leader’s in Northern Ireland by Michelle O’Neill. Meanwhile, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, said there was a “limited window” to reach a power-sharing deal.
The Stormont assembly met yesterday for the first time since Thursday’s election, which saw a resurgent Sinn Fein come within just one seat of matching the DUP’s 28.
Theresa May and her Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, were monitoring developments, and were expected to discuss Northern Ireland when they met at the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.
McGuinness: health fears
