Former Northern Ireland deputy first minister Martin McGuinness dies at 66

Martin McGuinness, the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and leader of Sinn Fein, has passed away at the age of 66 after a short illness.

McGuinness resigned from his position as the joint head of the NI Assembly in January, citing concerns about the actions of first minister Arlene Foster and her Democratic Unionist Party relating to a botched heating initiative and its attitude towards the Irish language.

The Derry native was one of the key figures in the peace process which brought about the Good Friday Agreement in the region, after holding leadership positions within the IRA for years.

McGuinness served as deputy first minister alongside three different first ministers from the DUP, including Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Foster.

Tributes flooded in for McGuinness from all sides of the political spectrum when the news broke of his death on Tuesday morning.

“It is with deep regret and sadness that we have learnt of the death of our friend and comrade Martin McGuinness who passed away in Derry during the night,” an official statement from Sinn Fein read. “He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Gerry Adams, president of the cross-border SF and close ally of McGuinness, paid tribute to the Derry man.

“He was a passionate republican who worked tirelessly for peace and reconciliation and for the re-unification of his country. But above all he loved his family and the people of Derry and he was immensely proud of both,” Adams said.

Arlene Foster added to the tributes, describing McGuinness as “pivotal in bringing the republican movement towards a position of using peaceful and democratic means.”

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said: "While I can never condone the path he took in the earlier part of his life, Martin McGuinness ultimately played a defining role in leading the Republican movement away from violence. In doing so, he made an essential and historic contribution to the extraordinary journey of Northern Ireland from conflict to peace.

"While we certainly didn’t always see eye-to-eye even in later years, as deputy First Minister for nearly a decade he was one of the pioneers of implementing cross community power sharing in Northern Ireland. He understood both its fragility and its precious significance and played a vital part in helping to find a way through many difficult moments.

"At the heart of it all was his profound optimism for the future of Northern Ireland – and I believe we should all hold fast to that optimism today."

McGuinness’ condition deteriorated during the weeks surrounding the recent snap election in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein closed the electoral gap on the DUP to just one seat. He had been diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease in December.

The major parties in Northern Ireland are currently discussing options about how to form a new executive following the breakdown earlier this year and subsequent vote, with Sinn Fein having said that they will not re-enter into the power-sharing agreement with Foster at the helm of the DUP.

Meanwhile, earlier this month Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill said that the fallout from Britain's exit from the European Union would be a "disaster" for NI, and called for a border poll "as soon as possible", however May quickly rejected the idea outright.