Tebbit:I hope he rots in hell
FORMER Tory minister Norman Tebbit yesterday said he hoped Martin McGuinness is “parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity”.
The peer, whose wife Margaret was paralysed when the IRA bombed a Brighton hotel, said the world is a “sweeter and cleaner” place now the former deputy first minister is dead.
Tebbit said McGuinness only turned to peace to “save his own skin”.
He added: “He was not only a multimurderer, he was a coward.
“He knew that the IRA were defeated because British intelligence had penetrated right the way up to the army council and that the end was coming.
“He then sought to save his own skin and he knew that it was likely he would be charged before long with several murders which he had personally committed.
“He decided that the only thing to do was to opt for peace.
“He claimed to be a Roman Catholic. I hope that his beliefs turn out to be true and he’ll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.”
The 1984 Brighton bombing of the Grand Hotel during the Tory Party conference killed five and left many injured.
Jo Berry, the daughter of Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry, who was one of those killed, said McGuinness should be remembered for his efforts to build peace.
She said: “I value Martin McGuinness as an inspiring example of peace and reconciliation.
“His legacy is one of reconciliation and peace-building.
“He showed us how to move forward and showed us a way where former enemies can work together for the peace of the whole.”
Julie Hambleton, whose lost her sister Maxine in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, said relatives of many of those killed by the IRA victims are still waiting for “truth and justice”.
She said of McGuinness: “He was very opaque and selective with the truth.
“With him the truth has died and that’s the big problem.”