Belfast reactions to death of Martin McGuinness

(21 Mar 2017) Martin McGuinness was remembered across Northern Ireland on Tuesday after the former IRA commander and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government died overnight aged 66.
In Belfast, the Northern Irish capital which still bears many of the signs of sectarian segregation between Catholic and Protestant communities, views on the former Sinn Fein leader were mixed.
Many paid tribute to his role in the peace-making process that led to the Good Friday Agreements, the foundation stone for the power-sharing that brought an end to sectarian violence in the region.
However his previous past as one of the Irish Republican Army's senior commanders and his role in the group's sustained campaign of violence during the Troubles have caused others to cast doubt on his legacy.
McGuinness' transformation into a peacemaker was all the more remarkable because, as a senior IRA commander during the years of gravest Catholic-Protestant violence, he insisted that Northern Ireland must be forced out of the United Kingdom against the wishes of Protestants.
He served as Northern Ireland's deputy first minister for a decade in a Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government.
The party said he died following a short illness.
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[@MyRammy1]

As a barber you’d have thought he’d have sorted out a better Barnett than that.

[@Xighor]

Wouldn't trust him to trim my pubes nevermind my hair

[@ep1929]

@@Xighor 😂😂😂😂

[@Padderrss]

That is one of the worst Barnet’s and beard’s I have ever seen on a person let alone a bloody barber

[@selena8169]

“He was a peaceful man” give me a break

[@edmondfin4252]

@Flown Kite unionists were nothing better

[@Justme-zo3jy]

He was a scum bag killer

[@MarkIRE1]

@@Justme-zo3jy yet when the RAF drop bombs from the sky you wear a poppy, get a grip

[@MarkIRE1]

@@dellgone just the name of the black and tans or the b specials would make any nationalist cringe. Crown funded terrorism. Literally terrorising nationalists, burning and dragging them from their homes. Thank God we had someone to fight for us because the government who so badly wanted this land wasn't going to help

[@tommyboyd9208]

Was

[@jdfiend]

The barber saying he was a peaceful man lol he must have forgotten the majority of his life

[@briantneary2248]

Whatever side you stand on, you must know deep down the troubles wouldn't have ended the way they did without him.

[@kgizzle92]

I think the Israelis and Palestinians lack a Martin McGuinness

[@jorgeeusebio8738]

And the 👸 👑

[@aidenjohnmcgeady3117]

@@kgizzle92 What chance for peace between the Palestinians and Israelis with a deranged psychopath like Netanyahu in charge of Israeli policy???

[@jdfiend]

The provos where losing big time so he knew the negotiation table was the only way , he'll never get any credit from me. People seem to forget about all the murders he either carried out or sanctioned

[@invisibleman4827]

​@@jdfiendWell said 👏

[@robbiethebinman1805]

1:12 I would not let this man cut my hair with hair like his! Did he cut it himself in the dark?

[@Oscarspoem]

Haha so true.

[@j2msu341]

With a knife and fork

[@stevenblackwood3491]

As a protestant I have to say he was loyal man to the cause an inspiration to others who fought with RIP

[@seansweeney8911]

Some Protestant you are. Look’s like Martin deceived you too

[@shredder9536]

@@seansweeney8911 Martin loved the Queen

[@hudson7354]

@@seansweeney8911 you Queen is in a box

[@jackietreehorn5561]

​@@seansweeney8911 says Sean with the most Irish name ever

[@seansweeney8911]

Doesn’t mean I’m an IRA sympathiser. I’m proud to be Irish but McGuinness was a killer

[@seansweeney8911]

‘Brought us through the darkest days of the Troubles’ ? He caused the darkest days of the Troubles

[@MiloManning05]

You talk like a tan

[@seansweeney8911]

By saying the truth? Guess I’m a Tan then

[@johnkennedy4863]

No. He witnessed the darkest day of the troubles. Bloody Sunday 1972.

[@invisibleman4827]

​@@johnkennedy4863Causes by him blatting at the Paras with a Tommy gun, covering his tracks to avoid popping up in the enquiry

[@jacquiewalton1355]

@@invisibleman4827 A key IRA informer, in hiding for nearly 20 years, will risk his life to tell the Bloody Sunday inquiry that former IRA commander Martin McGuinness did not fire any shots on the day of the fateful civil rights march that ended in the deaths of 14 civilians. Speaking last week from a secret location in Britain, Willie Carlin, a former British soldier who spent more than 10 years with McGuinness and the republican terrorist movement, told The Observer that he will defy an IRA death sentence to return to his home town of Derry. He will tell the Saville inquiry investigating the events of Bloody Sunday that allegations that McGuinness opened fire on British troops deployed against Roman Catholic demonstrators in the city in January 1972 are bogus. The British authorities at the time claimed that soldiers from the Parachute Regiment only opened fire on the demonstrators after being shot at themselves. Carlin, 52, said the testimony by another informant - codenamed Infliction - claiming that McGuinness had fired shots before the massacre was 'bogus and erroneous'. Carlin's evidence bolsters claims by the former MI5 officer, David Shayler, that Infliction's allegations about McGuinness - now Northern Ireland's Education Minister - were fabricated. Carlin said he was recruited by MI5 in 1974 while a soldier in the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars and spent 11 years undetected by the IRA. His main role was to report on McGuinness's political development and encourage him and others to abandon their military campaigns for a political solution. Carlin's covert career came to an abrupt end after the Soviet spy Michael Bettany, who had been his handler, betrayed him to the IRA.

[@mcp1228]

if my wife looked like that i would be just as spiteful

[@beesmonk]

🤣🤣😂what a minger

[@muckerkidd636]

I’m not disrespecting Martin in particular but Sinn Fein are a bunch of sellouts meeting with the queen and only bothering with southern politics.

[@irishrepublican3739]

At least SF are cross border, FF Gabe the nerve to call themselves “the Republican Party” yet aren’t in the North. Same with FG. SF seem to be the best of the three

[@napalmhotdog4365]

Fuck the IRA

[@Jack_B_guin_87]

Did that barber have a fight with a garden strimmer

[@Chris11201]

As a Catholic i dont care

[@Chris11201]

EVERYBODY DIES

[@Chris11201]

WE DONT A Goverment like this here in England!

[@OhEidirsceoil]

The last guy is incorrect about Martin. It is known that Martin was once a high profile leader in the IRA before his political career gained momentum. That is true. But to say "confessed" terrorist is very inaccurate and false. He did not confess to anything. He certainly never confessed to terrorism. Would someone feel the need to confess to being a member of the British army? No they wouldn't. They wouldnt hide from it either. They would simply acknowledge it as it would be common knowledge and documented anyway. He held a position in the top office in the north (ofmdfm) for longer than anyone else has been able to manage yet, and doing it all democratiacally and by consent of the majority. He was never convicted of murder. There is no evidence in the public domain since his death or before to connect him with murder, so this guy is talking bolox on that front also.

[@leesusphinx7857]

He's some backward cunt from East Belfast with a munter as a woman , he's raging

[@jdfiend]

Did your mummy write that shite for ya

[@OhEidirsceoil]

@@jdfiend what a daft question. Why ask it?

[@Chris11201]

nOBODY SHOULD CARE NOW HERE WE HAVE MILLIONS OF FOREIGNERS

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

Pity the ignorance of RACISM...

[@johnmagee1922]

Evil days of the troubles is right

[@evansclan4eva49]

Patriotism - fighting over a flag you can’t see draped over your coffin.

[@evansclan4eva49]

@Margaret Gust Some people would just fight in an empty elevator, let’s be honest.

[@MrPhilcoolio]

jesus christ, i wouldnt let a barber with a barnet like that anywhere near my head. what a fucking mess

[@arfer]

Like Paisley, he was an arsonist who later joined the fire brigade.

[@LAGoodz]

Looks such beautiful place, gutted that proud people, whichever their side, get caught up in the ego's of the politicians from both sides. Wishing both sides well and stop judging each other based on an ancient church.

[@liammellows-hz3pf]

The Ancient Propoganda,that your drip-fed,tells you religion was the cause of all this mayhem!!!! Try and see it from a different perspective,it wasn't religion "Per say that started this war,in was a people dominating one over the other BECAUSE of different religion,the major Gripe was that Nationalsts were 2nd class citizens,in an Orange State,and lived in poverty whilst the,people across the road had Cake and Biscuits.

[@amysands8925]

@@liammellows-hz3pf please don't tell me catholic were the only ones lived in poverty my mother had 6 children I can remember dirt floors. No money to buy food. Protestants suffered too.it was the way it was. To here naturals talk you would think they were the only ones who suffered. I have memories of my poor mother trying to survive. Potatoes. Were the only food we had. So dont try to make it one sided. All family catholic and protestant were just trying to survive.

[@James-th7wb]

LOL. You don't understand the conflict

[@MiloManning05]

@@amysands8925 yawn

[@jorgeeusebio8738]

@@amysands8925 George best was such a person

[@chris47766]

All I will say is speaking from my own experience - with age &time & experience comes wisdom & new perspective s on issues that once would have tunnel vision thinking. People slow down with age experience, reconsidering &contemplating& looking at different views . RIP A new Dawn &A new day. Irish chris

[@paulflah4562]

Daft old bugger

[@paulflah4562]

😉

[@liammellows-hz3pf]

Someone tell me when he was codenamed "Broccoli"

[@TheBenzer9]

Did they kill him.

[@arveyilleszender5809]

I doubt it. By the time of his death he was well connected very high up even with the loyalist side I'm sure.

[@peteskinner7709]

That barber who says that Martin McGuiness was a peaceful man needs to give his head a bit of a wobble

[@blueger5551]

If there's a hell he'll be in it .

[@jackietreehorn5561]

highly unlikely there is one

[@patrickferran1678]

A Hero for Irish freedom. RIP Martin wat a leader. ♥️🙏

[@Felix-rising]

What a leader , what a tout

[@chickennuggets1742]

fuck getting a hair cut from the boy one minute in

[@oceanroad1584]

was martin really art garfunkel,think about it,poor paul simon.

[@keithy507]

“He fought for Ireland” but died in Northern Ireland!!

[@Ryan23H]

its on irish soil if u want to be part of the uk then go live in it

[@keithy507]

TobyIsHere I’m already living in it (Northern Ireland) Surely if you want to live in Ireland, then move down to it!? Hence why they use GBP here and use euros down there!??

[@tomceltic5502]

@VIPICCB6 by force. But not forever

[@user-go3jv8rw7i]

James James and that’s the facts

[@BrianLee-qw7vc]

He didn't fight to join the EU he fought for Independence didn't he?

[@bluemakem459]

In a place called Gibraltar 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬UNITED.. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@juanmiguelmflores9528]

@our rights first true mate as a filipino myself🇵🇭 who loves the uk,nationalists needs to go back to their country and stop being a die hard sinn feiner and an IRA Supporter. N.ireland will be in the uk forever! NO United ireland (NI Is In The Uk.) Greetings From The Philippines🇵🇭❤️❤️🇵🇭 One Country Four Nations🇬🇧🇬🇧🔴⚪🔵British It Will Remain Filipino here🇵🇭 As a filipino i'm bloody against a united ireland I Will Never Accept A United Ireland An Independent Scotland And Independent Wales. England,Scotland,Wales,Northern Ireland Stand As One! N.ireland will remain british IRA AND SINN FEINERS OUT! As a filipino myself,the scots,welsh,northern irish stands against independence and unification Unionists/Loyalists WON!, Die Hard Nationalists/Republicans Needs To Go Back To The Republic.

[@liamg1706]

@@juanmiguelmflores9528 lol

[@liamg1706]

In a place called Warrenpoint 🇮🇪18-0🇬🇧 😂 tiocfaidh are la

[@johnoliverorourke6777]

Is that what u think

[@jacobfullerton8466]

Julie ann Orr in this

[@scoop2963]

Some sh ite talked there.

[@tombarryantik7115]

How much is your pride? Nothing.

[@gatehanger1385]

Chucky Urlaw.

[@benbhoy9]

HERO ......respect from Glasgow 🇮🇪

[@marquez2390]

benbhoy9 He killed my family he's not a hero.

[@SonderTelly]

@TheTerryTurbo123 Scottish Fenians have committed more to Ireland than any other dispora. Your bigotry against Scottish, even Scottish Fenians is concerning. James Connelly, Margaret Skinnider etc

[@bennyreed2900]

@@marquez2390 Should not have been in dear old Ireland 😕!!!

[@Goodness726]

@@bennyreed2900 what about the 408 catholics they murdered is that ok to or do we just forget about them as they don’t fit into the scenario Ridiculous statement

[@brucetindal7399]

Machine gun Martin.

[@rabhaw9629]

How can somebody who starts a fight and then surrenders be called a peacemaker ? lol , like a schoolyard bully who eventually when beaten down into submission will seek to fit in and and alter their image , is how martin arthur guiness will be remembered

[@colmrooney5508]

No the british were the bullies and mcguinneas the victim who fought back ultimately disregarding how he was treated for years for the sake of peace

[@invisibleman4827]

​@@colmrooney5508That's like calling Bin Laden a victim because he was a wanted man for ten years before the Americans shot him.

[@loyalloyal4442]

😂

[@elzorro7of9]

Interesting, the talk about him being a 'hard man' strikes me as a bit simple. In the early 90's the real 'hard men' of the IRA were taken out. The ones who would not have played ball with the process. So was he a hard man because he helped the elimination of them? He was not a popular chief of army council either. I know for a fact he vetoed at least one operation in the UK that would have been thee biggest military coup in the history of insurrection fighting. The army council were generally in favour of that operation but he was not and it never happened.

[@shredder9536]

What would you know about it

[@loyalloyal4442]

Wee skinny marty.

[@ballysilly4951]

Although respecting wot he did in later years it must be remembered the dozens upon dozens of murders he personally give go ahead...the innocent people that never got to see their twilight years, kids growing up, grandkids that he got to see ,so of course my community feel bitter especially when ya have presidents & all glorifying the man of "peace"...if micheal stone r jonny adair transformed to political leaders wud we expect people of falls to mourn their deaths? Remember 2/3s murders were carried out by his mates...ruc, army,uvf,uda,rhc combined for the other 1/3rd...but always the victims!!

[@random_guy_on_youtube5342]

Yeah well the british already killed 1 million of us in the famine so think about those lads

[@klarahenderson4460]

@@random_guy_on_youtube5342 an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Treating violence with violence will never bring unity to two sides of a community.

[@compulsiverambler1352]

​@@random_guy_on_youtube5342 The people responsible for the famine were not the above listed pIRA victims. It's also extremely unlikely that they were their ancestors. Statistically it's far more likely that those pIRA victims were descended from victims of the famine than it is that they'd be descended from the far smaller number of individuals who were willfully responsible for the famine. Even if them being British somehow did mean that they must be descended from those individuals, that justification is like saying that because some people born in the island now called Ireland, kidnapped Saint Patrick from the island now called Great Britain and held him as a slave, and raided and invaded Great Britain so much that in what's now Scotland people were forced to hire Anglo-Saxons to defend their land from them, therefore people born in Ireland today "already" did something bad to "us" in Great Britain and if "we" do something to "you" it's justified because "you" started it. It's absurd because individuals are not their ancestors, and because most people considered to be either of "Irish descent" or "British descent" will have ancestors including most or all of all these: Scoti invaders from Ireland to Great Britain, Scoti who stayed in Ireland, honest Scoti and Pict immigrants from Ireland to Great Britain, Briton tribe members who invaded Ireland from Great Britain, Briton tribe members who stayed in Great Britain, Norman invaders of Great Britain, anglo-saxon invaders of Great Britain, anglo-saxon honest immigrants to Great Britain, invaders of both islands from what's now Denmark, victims of invaders from what's now Denmark, slaves taken from Great Britain by Irish pirates, the Irish pirates who took people as slaves, supporters of persecution post-reformation, victims of persecution post-reformation, and more. So if you're identifying everyone as somehow BEING our ancestros, then we're all perpetrators and victims of many similar crimes, wherever we're born on these islands. Think of this too as a thought experiment: if somewhere in your family tree, you have an ancestor who was the product of rape (very likely in all of us - I know for a fact in my own tree), then by your logic of everyone somehow "being" our ancestors, are you both a victim and perpetrator of that crime at the same time, because you're descended from both of them?

[@jimibhoy8935]

Nice to hear a balanced view. Bloody Sunday, how many innocent civil rights marchers would have been shot dead in the streets if the march had been held in London?? NONE. Internment, without cause, evidence, or trial. In the U.K. In the 20th century. Why wasn't it introduced in England for suspected criminals? No chance, it's illegal thats why. That's why you had violence and rebellion. Duh..... What do you expect, Irish people living in their own country being bullied, discriminated against, and murdered by settlers and foreigners. They didn't even have a fair voting system, everything rigged completely. No employment, or civil rights, because of the sectarian hatred of those in power. What did you expect? Bullies don't like it when their victims fight back. The bully boys would do it all and more again tomorrow, if they thought that they would get away with it. That's not even mentioning the ridiculous concept of the UDR. And their disgraceful conduct. A shit storm 100% created by those whom had been given the gift of power. Look what they did with it. If you aren't capable of taking ownership and responsibility for your part in creating "The Troubles" then you are a perfect example of why you had them in the first place.

[@robert55726]

@@random_guy_on_youtube5342 How did the British cause the famine

[@russellwilliams1071]

Bye...🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@evanrules3635]

Rip

[@thecfbutcher1174]

Rot in hell

[@neilhartley9558]

Doubtful.

[@geoffwhite7535]

did he kill

[@stephendoran2690]

A good republican was wee marty, rip

[@stephendoran2690]

@SEAN INGRAM so you think he was an agent, proof?!

[@stephendoran2690]

@SEAN INGRAM I know this rumour. Personally I think its rubbish but wouldn't be surprised if there were other high up IRA/SF members who were touts

[@stephendoran2690]

@SEAN INGRAM McGuinness pulled back from front line IRA ops and was more involved with strategy and direction. I believe after Enniskillen bomb he knew the game was up and got more involved with SF and politics.The brits knew he was pointing the IRA towards peace so left him alone.Scap is a different case altogether.He was their most prized asset so thet went to great lengths to make sure he wasn't arrested.He was a thug and a social deviant, not a nice character at all and one not to be messed with

[@ramansahota632]

Great Man

[@thehavantskrewdriverboys6272]

Ireland Will never be united!!!!! That day will never come!!!! Even The Republic Of Ireland No longer want to seek a united ireland, the republic can’t even afford itselfs.

[@tomceltic5502]

Im in the republic and i want a united ireland. And we can afford it. More than britain now and even more when it comes

[@lewisbeattie2533]

@L C fine gael and fianna fáil want a United Ireland but dont want the headache if things do go as planned. They're bunch of no-good do-nothingers. Ireland will be United soon enough

[@bennyreed2900]

The havant skre Just aroundthecorner scumbag gobshite,!!!.

[@tombarryantik7115]

A new Ireland is forthcoming with name: Irelande Caliphe

[@YOYO-mx6ie]

a leader and a hero

[@jredmondscaff]

God Bless you Martin McGuiinness...EIRE 32

[@tommydevine5104]

Oh dear, now we all know that not only was he a nice man but a very nice British Agent!!! - ''Dia an banrion a sha'bha'il ''

[@stephendoran2690]

Top man was Marty, rest in peace

[@Tyrekickingwetdreamer]

he was a brave man who just wanted freedom from british occupation and terrorism

[@mickfunny4185]

den co all right then laddie calm down now

[@nunyvanstta135]

🤔 British terrorism??? So he became a terrorist himself to fight what you call British terrorism??? Yep, makes sense... not 😒

[@alansbinnie1446]

Unless I am mistaken Northern Ireland is still part of Britain.

[@alansbinnie1446]

Let us not equate him with freedom fighters, he was not, he was a murderer, pure and simple. We will never forgive him and his kind.

[@Crum-pe4mn]

@@alansbinnie1446 it never has been part of Britain you idiot..England, Scotland and Wales make up Britain

[@zebrahead32]

Great man was Martin,rip

[@cberylcacvhione1772]

Rest in peace martin N.Y. USA

[@BrianLee-qw7vc]

Rest in peace Tim McVeigh.

[@torquemada3273]

MARTIN McGUINESS....LEGEND.

[@johnkennedy972]

Martin McGuinness is a legend he carried the provos hardliners through a transformation from war to peace even the unionist people miss him as well 🇮🇪32

[@bryancollier6731]

I think it's time that Northern Ireland had a referendum on leaving the United Kingdom and becoming part of a United Ireland then take it from there.Ofcourse the Republic of Ireland would then be involved.They may not want NI to become part of a United Ireland?

[@leolicursi662]

Kick the proddys out

[@ondersteunwitboere2950]

Bigot

[@DUCATEA]

As a British citizen ....this man was a visionary a statesman the like of which had we not seen, the troubles would be with us today.

[@XtreemMetalManRedToTheBone]

@stephen turner he did attacks in England, didn't he?

[@komedeeeklassiczzz3792]

are your brains in your ass?

[@liamg1706]

@stephen turner why would he do thing like that to innocent old Britain? who's forces never took over Ireland and murdered innocent irish people and caused wholesale discrimination and murder of Irish people in the north for decade's, not as if any of that ever happened. must of been a bit crazy this mcguiness guy was he?

[@ProfileP246]

@@liamg1706 wise up

[@MiloManning05]

@@ProfileP246 cope tan