McGuinness to speak at Tory Party conference

Published on Sunday 18 July 2010 01:02

MARTIN McGuinness, the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and a former IRA commander, is to appear at an event at the Conservative Party conference later this year, 26 years after the paramilitary group tried to bomb the event.

McGuinness is to speak at a fringe event in Birmingham this coming October, in a move which prompted disgust from Conservative MPs. Last night one MP described his appearance at the Conference as "too despicable for words".

McGuinness will appear alongside Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson at a breakfast organised by Champ, a not-for-profit organisation that has encouraged dialogue since its foundation in 2002.

Last year, the same group invited McGuinness to the Labour Party conference in the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

The 1984 bombing of the hotel killed five people and left several more severely wounded, including Margaret Tebbit, the wife of then cabinet minister Norman Tebbit. Lord Tebbit last year said he was appalled by McGuinness's presence in Brighton, saying he imagined he would go there "to have a look around to see why the (1984] plot failed".

However, the organiser of the event, Conor McGinn, said yesterday: "The Northern Ireland breakfast is one of the annual fixtures now at the conference of the party in government.

"Leading politicians from Northern Ireland from all parties, along with the secretary of state, have been invited. We do not see it being any different this year," he said.

One Conservative MP, who asked not to be named said: "It just turns my stomach. This is just an outrage."

The bomb, was planted weeks in advance by Patrick Magee, a member of the IRA, and was intended to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet.on October 12.