Sinn Fein chief Martin McGuinness says he is fully committed to A5 road project between Derry and Dublin
DEPUTY First Minister Martin McGuinness has said he will not back a programme for government after the 2016 assembly election if work on the A5 road does not start next year.
The Mid Ulster Sinn Fein MLA said he was confident that the project between Derry and Dublin through Aughnacloy will “definitely happen”.
The project was blocked by the High Court in Belfast in 2013 after a judge on environmental concerns to local wildlife.
At a Sinn Féin leadership event and public meeting, held in Derry last night, Mr McGuinness said he “spoke to Peter Robinson and he is also committed”.
“I have nailed my colours to the mast on the project.
“If the project doesn’t go ahead in the aftermath of the next assembly elections, which is only a few months away, we will will not be agreeing a programme for government.
“I would have every expectation that work on the A5 will start in just over a year from now.
“Those people who say that the A5 is dead in the water are going to get a big surprise.”
Mr McGuinness accused unionist politicians of supporting loyalist paramilitary forces and standing shoulder to shoulder with rioters in north Belfast.
He told the audience that unionist ministers could have done more to diffuse tensions at the Ardoyne interface around the Twelfth this year.
“We had a situation where hundreds of police officers were being injured on the streets of Belfast as a result of riots that were taking place,” he said.
“And at the same time, we had some unionist ministers, who on a Thursday afternoon, were sitting round the Executive table with ourselves and then running up to north Belfast, standing beside loyalists, standing beside the Orange Order, and effectively flapping like penguins every time they uttered their outrageous comments which were designed to foment conflict on the streets of north Belfast.”
Mr McGuinness also said he was “standing by” prominent republican Bobby Storey who was arrested in connection with the murder of Kevin McGuigan before being released without charge..
“He is a completely innocent man, someone who has given total commitment to supporting and being part of a Sinn Féin leadership that has helped transform both the security and political situation in the north,” Mr McGuinness said.
“So I think that the Chief Constable of the PSNI has his job to do but I certainly think that in the context of the arrest of Bobby Storey I have a duty and responsibility to stand by someone in whom I have total belief of his innocence.
“If I didn’t have that total belief, I wouldn’t do it.”
The arrest of Mr Storey and Chief Constable George Hamilton’s assertion that the IRA were involved in the murder of Kevin McGuigan almost led to the collapse of Stormont.
The UUP walked out of Stormont Executive to form an opposition, citing a lack of trust in Sinn Féin.
