A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE – WHICH GAVE WAY TO A LIFE SPENT IN PURSUIT OF PEACE
MAY 23, 1950 – James Martin Pacelli McGuinness, the second child of seven, is born in the Bogside area of Derry.
1965 – McGuinness fails the 11-plus school examination and, upon leaving the Christian Brothers technical college, is turned down for a job as a car mechanic because he is Catholic. McGuinness, aged 15, becomes a butcher’s assistant instead.
OCTOBER 5, 1968 – A civil rights protest in Derry, pictured, goes ahead despite being banned, with the RUC blocking the intended route and baton-charging the crowd. This event is viewed as the beginning of ‘The Troubles’.
AUGUST 12-14, 1969 – The Battle of the Bogside occurs after an Apprentice Boys parade passes along the city walls in Derry. Rioting between police and residents goes on for three days. Taoiseach Jack Lynch says the Irish Government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured. 1970 – McGuinness packs in work as a butcher and joins the IRA.
1972 – McGuinness, aged 21, pictured below, rises through the ranks and becomes second-in-command of the IRA in Derry. On January 30, British paratroopers shoot dead 13 unarmed Catholic demonstrators in the city’s Bogside, in what becomes known as Bloody Sunday.
MARCH 1972 – British Prime Minister Edward Heath suspends the Northern Ireland government at Stormont and imposes direct rule.
JULY 1972 – McGuinness joins Gerry Adams in an IRA delegation flown by the British government to London for secret face-to-face negotiations with Northern Ireland Secretary of State William Whitelaw. 1973 – McGuinness is convicted of IRA membership by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin after being arrested near a car containing explosives and nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition. He is sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
1974 – McGuinness is arrested and charged with IRA membership and later imprisoned again by the Special Criminal Court. Later that year McGuinness marries Bernadette Canning in Donegal. He also becomes increasingly involved with Sinn Féin, the political wing of the republican movement. LATE 1970s – McGuinness becomes the IRA’s chief of staff.
OCTOBER 1982 – McGuinness wins a seat in the Stormont election, representing Derry. He is the second candidate elected after the SDLP’s John Hume.
AUGUST 1994 – The Provisional IRA announces a ‘complete cessation of violence’.
APRIL 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed, creating political institutions between the North and the Republic, as well as between the Republic and the UK. McGuinness was Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator in these talks, working alongside Gerry Adams, pictured.
MAY 8, 2007 – McGuinness is appointed as the North’s Deputy First Minister, while DUP leader Ian Paisley is First Minister. They strike up an unlikely friendship, and are dubbed the ‘Chuckle Brothers’.
2011 – McGuinness runs in the Irish presidential election, coming third behind Michael D Higgins and Seán Gallagher.
JUNE 27, 2012 – McGuinness shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II at an event in Belfast.
JANUARY 9, 2017 – McGuinness resigns as Deputy First Minister in protest at Arlene Foster refusing to step aside as First Minister over the ‘cash for ash’ scandal. His resignation forces a snap election.
JANUARY 19, 2017 – McGuinness announces he is quitting politics to focus on recovering from illness. MARCH 21, 2017 – McGuinness passes away, aged 66.