McGuinness had to quit, says priest

Martin McGuinness had no real choice but to resign as the North’s Deputy First Minister, according to a prominent northern priest.

Expressing regret about Mr McGuinness’s poor health, Fermanagh’s Fr Joe McVeigh told The Irish Catholic, “I also feel he had no real option but to resign given the entrapment he was facing from the DUP, not just on the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) issue, but a number of different issues.”

Fr McVeigh said he felt the Sinn Féin politician had been unhappy for some time, adding, “I don't think he got the respect he was entitled to as a Deputy First Minister, or the parity of esteem that we are entitled to in the North as nationalists.”

Disenchantment with executive has been growing among northern nationalists, he said, claiming that frustration over such issues as high child poverty rates in Derry and West Belfast has been aggravated by the DUP’s failure to take responsibility for “millions being wasted” on the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme. 

While describing the future as “uncertain”, Fr McVeigh nonetheless said he had faith in the people of the North. “We've come through a lot,” he said, “and I'm hopeful we'll come through this and bring about a new maturity in the politics here.”