Truth, lies and Martin McGuinness

Melanie McDonagh wrote a piece on Friday objecting to ‘those pundits who find Mr McGuinness’s presence anywhere intolerable.’ As one such pundit I would like to exercise a right of reply. Not to pick a fight with Melanie – who was very nice about my book on ‘Bloody Sunday’ and whose judgement for that reason, among others, I would not therefore like to call into question. And not because I disagree with the blame that Melanie rightly says should be laid at the door of the Conservative Party. But to add to this last point and come back on another.

Because Melanie says in her piece:

‘…unless anyone has got any actual evidence to convict Mr McGuinness, then I think he’s better in constitutional politics and welcome at the party, than out of it.’

Which forces me to return to old, but necessary, terrain.

It is very hard indeed to come up with evidence to convict someone when successive UK governments – starting with that of John Major – have contrived to remove such evidence from the public realm. As I wrote in the Spectator three years ago when McGuinness was running for the Irish Presidency, the facts are these.

‘In 1993, The Cook Report investigated a number of murders in which McGuinness was personally involved.  Among them was the case of Frank Hegarty, whom McGuinness lured back from England in 1987. ‘Don’t worry — I’ll bring him home to you,’ McGuinness had sworn to his mother.  When he returned to Ireland Hegarty was interrogated and shot, his body subsequently found bound and blindfolded.

In the wake of that documentary, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) set up a secret unit to investigate the charges. By late 1994 it had located at least three witnesses willing to testify to McGuinness’s involvement in the killing of Hegarty, among others.