Martin McGuinness receives new death threats

Sinn Fein's Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness has today been warned that he has had new death threats issued against him.

Police contacted the Mid-Ulster MP to warn him that dissident republican's, opposed to the party's current strategy, had threatened his life, just days before the party is due to meet in Dublin to make a decision on their policing policy in Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the new threats, Mr McGuinness said that Sinn Fein were taking the threats seriously, however were not going to allow them to “deflect us from our work in bringing about Irish unity and independence.”

He added that the threats would only “serve to strengthen our resolve.”

Today's threats are just in addition to a number of others received by the Sinn Fein leadership in recent times due to the party's plans to reconsider their policy on policing in order to allow the current political process to move forward in an attempt to achieve an all-party power-sharing executive, which is due to be elected on March 7.

(EF/SP)