Lord Tebbit has today said the 'world is a sweeter place ' after Martin McGuinness's death at 66 and called him a 'multi-murderer coward' who turned to peace 'to save his own skin'.
Mr McGuinness, once nicknamed the 'Butcher of Bogside', was considered Britain's number one terrorist accused of ordering some of the IRA's most spectacular attacks across Ulster and on mainland UK.
In an extraordinary journey he became a peacemaker politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland credited with securing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end decades of fighting in Northern Ireland with the help of his sworn enemy turned friend Rev Ian Paisley.
The Queen even shared an historic handshake with him in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
But Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was permanently paralysed by the IRA's 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, says McGuinness sought peace to avoid being prosecuted for his IRA crimes.
He said: 'The world is a sweeter place today. He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. I hope he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.'
The former IRA commander was Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland - with the Democratic Unionist Party's Arlene Foster being the First Minister - from May 2007 to January 2017.
'The world is a sweeter place today': Norman Tebbit, whose wife was paralysed by an IRA bomb, brands Martin McGuinness 'a coward who never atoned for his crimes' as he dies aged 66
Martin McGuinness dies in hospital after suffering from rare heart condition
Once 'Britain's number one terrorist' he became one of IRA's top commanders
He was second in command on Bloody Sunday and was jailed numerous times
Experts say he was behind many of IRA's most bloody attacks both in NI and UK
Families of who lost loved-ones say death 'cleans earth of another vile terrorist'
McGuinness became politician in 80s and secured 1998 Good Friday peace deal
He died from amyloidosis, just weeks after quitting as deputy first minister
Tributes from across politics including from Gerry Adams who called him a 'hero'
Brighton bomb victim Lord Tebbit said 'world is a sweeter and safer place today'
By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter and Alex Matthews and Mark Duell for MailOnline
21 March 2017
Lord Tebbit has today said the 'world is a sweeter place ' after Martin McGuinness's death at 66 and called him a 'multi-murderer coward' who turned to peace 'to save his own skin'.
Mr McGuinness, once nicknamed the 'Butcher of Bogside', was considered Britain's number one terrorist accused of ordering some of the IRA's most spectacular attacks across Ulster and on mainland UK.
In an extraordinary journey he became a peacemaker politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland credited with securing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end decades of fighting in Northern Ireland with the help of his sworn enemy turned friend Rev Ian Paisley.
The Queen even shared an historic handshake with him in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
But Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was permanently paralysed by the IRA's 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, says McGuinness sought peace to avoid being prosecuted for his IRA crimes.
He said: 'The world is a sweeter place today. He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. I hope he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.'
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, said today: 'With his death the truth is buried.
People are piling the praise on him but it isn't valid. He didn't come forward with the truth.' Her brother Brian Hambleton said his death 'cleans the earth of another vile terrorist'.
Final picture: A frail Martin McGuinness was photographed for the last time January in Belfast, before succumbing to a rare genetic disease overnight
New relationship: In a historic moment McGuinness shakes hands with the Queen during a visit to Belfast in 2012 - over 30 years after the IRA murdered her cousin Lord Mountbatten in 1979
Public enemy: McGuinness became a respected politician and peacemaker but was once described as 'Britain's number one terrorist' and was second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday (right in 1972)
History: IRA Commander Martin McGuinness holding a handgun in 1972 at a time when he was at the very top of the terror organisation
Today his friend and comrade Gerry Adams called him a 'hero' and a 'faithful soul' and Theresa May said: 'While I can never condone the path he took in the earlier part of his life he played a defining role in leading the Republican movement away from violence'.
Families of those killed in IRA terror attacks fear the truth about their murders will be 'buried with him'.
The former first minister was also accused of knowing the secrets of Northern Ireland's so-called 'Disappeared' - those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans.
Mr McGuinness always denied being the IRA's chief of staff at the height of the Troubles but once said: 'I regard it as a compliment'.
Mrs Hambleton hopes his death will mean that people will speak out and said: 'I can but hope that lips will be looser, not just for our loved ones but for everybody's sake - many of whom still after all these years have no body to bury'.
Stephen Gault saw his father Samuel, 49, killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen in November 1987. The then 18-year-old was also injured in the blast.
He said: 'Martin McGuinness has taken to the grave the truth and the answers that we need to be able to move forward. He knows who bombed Enniskillen.
'I will always remember Martin McGuinness as the terrorist he was. If he had been repentant my thoughts might have been slightly different. But he took to his grave proud that he served in the IRA. There was no remorse or repentance from him even up to his death.
'People might say I am unchristian that I have no sympathy for his family. But it wasn't Christian to send people out to murder innocent people.
'Did the McGuinness family feel any sympathy for the Gault family when my father was cruelly and brutally murdered at the age of 49 by an IRA bomb?
'I have heard all this talk about how Martin McGuinness was only 66. My father was only 49 when he was murdered. He wasn't even 50.
He was a very young man.'
Traditional Unionist Voice party leader Jim Allister said Mr McGuinness had taken secrets about his IRA past to the grave.
He said: 'In the case of Martin McGuinness, he lived many more decades than most of his victims.'
'So today my primary thoughts are with the many victims of the IRA who never reached the age of 66; of men and women who never got to see their grandchildren because their lives were cut short by murderous republicanism; of children stolen from their parents and grandparents by the organisation in which McGuinness was a commander.'
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the Birmingham pub bombings, said relatives of many of the terrorist group's victims were still waiting for 'truth and justice' - Stephen Gault saw his father Samuel, 49, killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen and says he has no sympathy for McGuinness' family
Brighton Bombing survivor Lord Tebbit, pictured being pulled from the rubble in 1984, says the world is a 'sweeter place today' and accused him of turning to peace 'to save his own skin'
Carnage: Two Birmingham pubs including the the Mulberry Bush were bombed by the IRA in November 1974 resulting in 21 deaths.
Terror attack: Eleven people, many of them old-age pensioners, were killed and 63 were injured when the IRA bombed the 1987 Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen
Mr McGuinness was at the IRA's top table for years but turned peacemaker and was pivotal in securing the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the Queen even agreed to meet him and shake his hand in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
They met again several more times including in June last year.
Tony Blair expressed his sadness and paid tribute to McGuinness and his role in ensuing peace in Northern Ireland.
He said: 'I grew up watching and hearing about the Martin McGuinness who was a leading member of the IRA engaged in armed struggle. I came to know the Martin McGuinness who set aside that armed struggle in favour of making peace.
'There will be some who cannot forget the bitter legacy of the war. And for those who lost loved ones in it that is completely understandable.
'But for those of us able finally to bring about the Northern Ireland peace agreement, we know we could never have done it without Martin's leadership, courage and quiet insistence that the past should not define the future.'
Lord Tebbit led the stinging criticism of his McGuinness for his past crimes and only turned to peace to avoid jail.
He said: 'He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. The reason he became a man of peace was that he was afraid of being arrested and charged with murders he committed. There can be no forgiveness without a confession of sins'.
When asked about his part in the peace process he said: 'You might just as well say that if Himmler had succeeded Hitler and wiped out the Jews it would have removed the problem and there could have been peace in Europe'.
Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries tweeted: 'I hope God forgives this man and grants him a place in heaven - however, it will be hard for many to shed tears upon hearing this news.'
McGuinness became deputy first minister of Northern Ireland in 2007, but stepped down in January at the DUP's handling of the 'cash for ash' energy scandal, triggering a snap election.
Photographs of him at his last public appearance in January show him looking very frail.
Plans for peace: After rising through the ranks of the IRA during the 1970s and spent several spells in prison, McGuinness turned to politics and played an important role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Left, in 1983 and right, visiting Downing Street in 2016
Anger: Lord Tebbit's wife Lady Margaret was permanently paralysed in the 1984 Brighton bombing on the Grand Hotel and remains in a wheelchair today
Once described as 'Britain's number one terrorist', McGuinness left his past behind to become one of the major players in Northern Ireland's peace process.
His unlikely journey took him from being second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday to Deputy First Minister (DFM) at Stormont.
Mr McGuinness always acknowledged his IRA past but many said failed to atone for what he did.
In 1972, at the age of 21, he was second-in-command of the IRA in Londonderry, a position he held at the time of Bloody Sunday, when 14 civil rights protesters were killed in the city by soldiers with the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment.
The following year he was convicted by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court after being arrested near a car containing explosives and ammunition.
McGuinness once told how his parents were 'horrified' when a local priest arrived at their door to say their son had been searching for parts to make 'destructive devices'.
He described his parents as 'very religious people' and said their primary concern was always his safety.
After his release from jail, and another conviction in the Republic for IRA membership, he became increasingly prominent in Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its best known face after Gerry Adams.
During the Troubles McGuinness had read numerous academic dissertations which all concluded that the British Army could not militarily beat the IRA.
But he claimed he believed the IRA could not defeat the British and became motivated to convince people change could only happen through politics.
He was in indirect contact with British intelligence during the hunger strikes in the early 1980s, and again in the early 1990s.
In 1982, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont representing his home city of Londonderry. He was the second candidate elected after John Hume.
He eventually became Sinn Fein's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement which ended violence, secured IRA arms decommissioning in 2005 and shared government with former enemies.
In 2012, after his historic handshake with the Queen, Mr McGuinness said he'genuinely regretted' every life lost during the Troubles.
In a speech at Westminster he said: 'Every single violent act was evidence of a failure of politics and a failure of British policy in Ireland.
'I genuinely regret every single life that was lost during that conflict and today I want every family who lost a loved one to know that your pain is not being ignored and I am willing to work with others to finding a way to deal with our past so that we can complete our journey to true reconciliation.'
Politician: After a six-month jail term in 1973, McGuinness entered into politics and became prominent in Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its best known face after Gerry Adams. Pictured, Adams and McGuinness during a march to mark the commemoration of Bloody Sunday in 1983
Peacemaker: McGuinness was Sinn Fein's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and secured IRA arms decommissioning in 2005. Pictured, McGuinness, Adams and former Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street in 2005
Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips posted on Twitter: 'People can do good and bad, things aren't simple. People should be neither reviled or worshipped. I wish he'd helped my constituents find peace.'
In a statement, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins paid tribute to the ex-IRA commander's 'immense contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland'.
He said: 'The world of politics and the people across this island will miss the leadership he gave, shown most clearly during the difficult times of the peace process, and his commitment to the values of genuine democracy that he demonstrated in the development of the institutions in Northern Ireland'.
Past: McGuinness in 1972 when he was one of the IRA's top commanders at the height of the troubles where he is accused of ordering countless murders
Former Northern Ireland secretary Lord Hain said Mr McGuinness was 'absolutely crucial' to the peace process.
'He had the grassroots credibility of a republican leader and former IRA commander, that could enable him, along with Gerry Adams, to take his followers, to take republicans, from the past of terror and horror into a democratic future, which is what he did,' Lord Hain told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
The Labour former cabinet minister revealed that Mr McGuinness also had an unlikely love of the England cricket team.
'I discovered he was a fan of the England cricket team - this was a hardline republican - but I realised watching the Ashes series on the television in the corner of my office in Stormont Castle that he actually was following the England cricket team. He knew all the players,' Lord Hain said.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: 'I want to extend my sympathy and sincere condolences to the family of Martin McGuinness at this difficult time.
'Martin's personal journey and the clear influence he had on others in the republican movement were instrumental in shaping political institutions in Northern Ireland founded on exclusively peaceful and democratic means'.
And former Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said: 'Martin McGuinness's passing is a sad loss to his family, friends and to Northern Ireland as a whole. He was an indispensable part of the peace process.
'Though Martin remained a staunch Republican, he had the courage to change, to compromise, to abandon violence, to embrace old enemies, to promote reconciliation and he made a massive contribution in shaping a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.'
The Brighton hotel bombing
The Brighton hotel bombing was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination attempt against the top tier of the British government in 1984. It missed its main targets but killed five others. It occurred on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Brighton Hotel in Brighton. A long-delay time bomb was planted in the hotel by IRA member Patrick Magee, with the purpose of killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet, who were staying at the hotel for the Conservative Party conference. Although Thatcher narrowly escaped injury, five people were killed including a sitting Conservative MP, and 31 were injured
Amyloidosis: Rare condition that killed Martin McGuinness
Amyloidosis is a group of rare but serious conditions caused by deposits of abnormal protein, called amyloid, in tissues and organs throughout the body.
Proteins begin as a string of amino acids that fold themselves into a three-dimensional shape. This 'protein folding' allows them to perform useful functions within our cells.
Amyloid is a description of proteins which have folded abnormally and then collected together. In this form they do not break down as easily as normal proteins and can build up in tissues and organs.
If this build-up causes the tissues or organs to stop working properly, the resulting conditions are called amyloidosis.
The amyloid deposits occasionally only affect one part of the body (localised amyloidosis), but more often several different part of the body are affected (systemic amyloidosis), such as the heart, kidneys, liver, or nerves.
Without treatment to address the underlying cause, the amyloid deposits can eventually lead to organ failure and death – sometimes within only a year or two.
There are around 30 different proteins that can misfold and form amyloid, which is why there are many different types of amyloidosis.
Overall, about 600 new cases of amyloidosis are diagnosed in the UK every year and most occur in older people.
Source NHS Choices
Read more: Martin McGuinness dead aged 66* | Daily Mail Online
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Mr McGuinness, once nicknamed the 'Butcher of Bogside', was considered Britain's number one terrorist accused of ordering some of the IRA's most spectacular attacks across Ulster and on mainland UK.
In an extraordinary journey he became a peacemaker politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland credited with securing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end decades of fighting in Northern Ireland with the help of his sworn enemy turned friend Rev Ian Paisley.
The Queen even shared an historic handshake with him in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
But Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was permanently paralysed by the IRA's 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, says McGuinness sought peace to avoid being prosecuted for his IRA crimes.
He said: 'The world is a sweeter place today. He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. I hope he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.'
The former IRA commander was Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland - with the Democratic Unionist Party's Arlene Foster being the First Minister - from May 2007 to January 2017.
'The world is a sweeter place today': Norman Tebbit, whose wife was paralysed by an IRA bomb, brands Martin McGuinness 'a coward who never atoned for his crimes' as he dies aged 66
Martin McGuinness dies in hospital after suffering from rare heart condition
Once 'Britain's number one terrorist' he became one of IRA's top commanders
He was second in command on Bloody Sunday and was jailed numerous times
Experts say he was behind many of IRA's most bloody attacks both in NI and UK
Families of who lost loved-ones say death 'cleans earth of another vile terrorist'
McGuinness became politician in 80s and secured 1998 Good Friday peace deal
He died from amyloidosis, just weeks after quitting as deputy first minister
Tributes from across politics including from Gerry Adams who called him a 'hero'
Brighton bomb victim Lord Tebbit said 'world is a sweeter and safer place today'
By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter and Alex Matthews and Mark Duell for MailOnline
21 March 2017
Lord Tebbit has today said the 'world is a sweeter place ' after Martin McGuinness's death at 66 and called him a 'multi-murderer coward' who turned to peace 'to save his own skin'.
Mr McGuinness, once nicknamed the 'Butcher of Bogside', was considered Britain's number one terrorist accused of ordering some of the IRA's most spectacular attacks across Ulster and on mainland UK.
In an extraordinary journey he became a peacemaker politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland credited with securing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement to end decades of fighting in Northern Ireland with the help of his sworn enemy turned friend Rev Ian Paisley.
The Queen even shared an historic handshake with him in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
But Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was permanently paralysed by the IRA's 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, says McGuinness sought peace to avoid being prosecuted for his IRA crimes.
He said: 'The world is a sweeter place today. He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. I hope he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.'
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, said today: 'With his death the truth is buried.
People are piling the praise on him but it isn't valid. He didn't come forward with the truth.' Her brother Brian Hambleton said his death 'cleans the earth of another vile terrorist'.
Final picture: A frail Martin McGuinness was photographed for the last time January in Belfast, before succumbing to a rare genetic disease overnight
New relationship: In a historic moment McGuinness shakes hands with the Queen during a visit to Belfast in 2012 - over 30 years after the IRA murdered her cousin Lord Mountbatten in 1979
Public enemy: McGuinness became a respected politician and peacemaker but was once described as 'Britain's number one terrorist' and was second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday (right in 1972)
History: IRA Commander Martin McGuinness holding a handgun in 1972 at a time when he was at the very top of the terror organisation
Today his friend and comrade Gerry Adams called him a 'hero' and a 'faithful soul' and Theresa May said: 'While I can never condone the path he took in the earlier part of his life he played a defining role in leading the Republican movement away from violence'.
Families of those killed in IRA terror attacks fear the truth about their murders will be 'buried with him'.
The former first minister was also accused of knowing the secrets of Northern Ireland's so-called 'Disappeared' - those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans.
Mr McGuinness always denied being the IRA's chief of staff at the height of the Troubles but once said: 'I regard it as a compliment'.
Mrs Hambleton hopes his death will mean that people will speak out and said: 'I can but hope that lips will be looser, not just for our loved ones but for everybody's sake - many of whom still after all these years have no body to bury'.
Stephen Gault saw his father Samuel, 49, killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen in November 1987. The then 18-year-old was also injured in the blast.
He said: 'Martin McGuinness has taken to the grave the truth and the answers that we need to be able to move forward. He knows who bombed Enniskillen.
'I will always remember Martin McGuinness as the terrorist he was. If he had been repentant my thoughts might have been slightly different. But he took to his grave proud that he served in the IRA. There was no remorse or repentance from him even up to his death.
'People might say I am unchristian that I have no sympathy for his family. But it wasn't Christian to send people out to murder innocent people.
'Did the McGuinness family feel any sympathy for the Gault family when my father was cruelly and brutally murdered at the age of 49 by an IRA bomb?
'I have heard all this talk about how Martin McGuinness was only 66. My father was only 49 when he was murdered. He wasn't even 50.
He was a very young man.'
Traditional Unionist Voice party leader Jim Allister said Mr McGuinness had taken secrets about his IRA past to the grave.
He said: 'In the case of Martin McGuinness, he lived many more decades than most of his victims.'
'So today my primary thoughts are with the many victims of the IRA who never reached the age of 66; of men and women who never got to see their grandchildren because their lives were cut short by murderous republicanism; of children stolen from their parents and grandparents by the organisation in which McGuinness was a commander.'
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the Birmingham pub bombings, said relatives of many of the terrorist group's victims were still waiting for 'truth and justice' - Stephen Gault saw his father Samuel, 49, killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen and says he has no sympathy for McGuinness' family
Brighton Bombing survivor Lord Tebbit, pictured being pulled from the rubble in 1984, says the world is a 'sweeter place today' and accused him of turning to peace 'to save his own skin'
Carnage: Two Birmingham pubs including the the Mulberry Bush were bombed by the IRA in November 1974 resulting in 21 deaths.
Terror attack: Eleven people, many of them old-age pensioners, were killed and 63 were injured when the IRA bombed the 1987 Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen
Mr McGuinness was at the IRA's top table for years but turned peacemaker and was pivotal in securing the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the Queen even agreed to meet him and shake his hand in 2012 even though he was believed to have helped order the murder of her cousin Lord Moutbatten in 1979.
They met again several more times including in June last year.
Tony Blair expressed his sadness and paid tribute to McGuinness and his role in ensuing peace in Northern Ireland.
He said: 'I grew up watching and hearing about the Martin McGuinness who was a leading member of the IRA engaged in armed struggle. I came to know the Martin McGuinness who set aside that armed struggle in favour of making peace.
'There will be some who cannot forget the bitter legacy of the war. And for those who lost loved ones in it that is completely understandable.
'But for those of us able finally to bring about the Northern Ireland peace agreement, we know we could never have done it without Martin's leadership, courage and quiet insistence that the past should not define the future.'
Lord Tebbit led the stinging criticism of his McGuinness for his past crimes and only turned to peace to avoid jail.
He said: 'He was a coward who never atoned for his crimes. The reason he became a man of peace was that he was afraid of being arrested and charged with murders he committed. There can be no forgiveness without a confession of sins'.
When asked about his part in the peace process he said: 'You might just as well say that if Himmler had succeeded Hitler and wiped out the Jews it would have removed the problem and there could have been peace in Europe'.
Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries tweeted: 'I hope God forgives this man and grants him a place in heaven - however, it will be hard for many to shed tears upon hearing this news.'
McGuinness became deputy first minister of Northern Ireland in 2007, but stepped down in January at the DUP's handling of the 'cash for ash' energy scandal, triggering a snap election.
Photographs of him at his last public appearance in January show him looking very frail.
Plans for peace: After rising through the ranks of the IRA during the 1970s and spent several spells in prison, McGuinness turned to politics and played an important role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Left, in 1983 and right, visiting Downing Street in 2016
Anger: Lord Tebbit's wife Lady Margaret was permanently paralysed in the 1984 Brighton bombing on the Grand Hotel and remains in a wheelchair today
Once described as 'Britain's number one terrorist', McGuinness left his past behind to become one of the major players in Northern Ireland's peace process.
His unlikely journey took him from being second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday to Deputy First Minister (DFM) at Stormont.
Mr McGuinness always acknowledged his IRA past but many said failed to atone for what he did.
In 1972, at the age of 21, he was second-in-command of the IRA in Londonderry, a position he held at the time of Bloody Sunday, when 14 civil rights protesters were killed in the city by soldiers with the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment.
The following year he was convicted by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court after being arrested near a car containing explosives and ammunition.
McGuinness once told how his parents were 'horrified' when a local priest arrived at their door to say their son had been searching for parts to make 'destructive devices'.
He described his parents as 'very religious people' and said their primary concern was always his safety.
After his release from jail, and another conviction in the Republic for IRA membership, he became increasingly prominent in Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its best known face after Gerry Adams.
During the Troubles McGuinness had read numerous academic dissertations which all concluded that the British Army could not militarily beat the IRA.
But he claimed he believed the IRA could not defeat the British and became motivated to convince people change could only happen through politics.
He was in indirect contact with British intelligence during the hunger strikes in the early 1980s, and again in the early 1990s.
In 1982, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont representing his home city of Londonderry. He was the second candidate elected after John Hume.
He eventually became Sinn Fein's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement which ended violence, secured IRA arms decommissioning in 2005 and shared government with former enemies.
In 2012, after his historic handshake with the Queen, Mr McGuinness said he'genuinely regretted' every life lost during the Troubles.
In a speech at Westminster he said: 'Every single violent act was evidence of a failure of politics and a failure of British policy in Ireland.
'I genuinely regret every single life that was lost during that conflict and today I want every family who lost a loved one to know that your pain is not being ignored and I am willing to work with others to finding a way to deal with our past so that we can complete our journey to true reconciliation.'
Politician: After a six-month jail term in 1973, McGuinness entered into politics and became prominent in Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its best known face after Gerry Adams. Pictured, Adams and McGuinness during a march to mark the commemoration of Bloody Sunday in 1983
Peacemaker: McGuinness was Sinn Fein's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and secured IRA arms decommissioning in 2005. Pictured, McGuinness, Adams and former Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street in 2005
Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips posted on Twitter: 'People can do good and bad, things aren't simple. People should be neither reviled or worshipped. I wish he'd helped my constituents find peace.'
In a statement, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins paid tribute to the ex-IRA commander's 'immense contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland'.
He said: 'The world of politics and the people across this island will miss the leadership he gave, shown most clearly during the difficult times of the peace process, and his commitment to the values of genuine democracy that he demonstrated in the development of the institutions in Northern Ireland'.
Past: McGuinness in 1972 when he was one of the IRA's top commanders at the height of the troubles where he is accused of ordering countless murders
Former Northern Ireland secretary Lord Hain said Mr McGuinness was 'absolutely crucial' to the peace process.
'He had the grassroots credibility of a republican leader and former IRA commander, that could enable him, along with Gerry Adams, to take his followers, to take republicans, from the past of terror and horror into a democratic future, which is what he did,' Lord Hain told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
The Labour former cabinet minister revealed that Mr McGuinness also had an unlikely love of the England cricket team.
'I discovered he was a fan of the England cricket team - this was a hardline republican - but I realised watching the Ashes series on the television in the corner of my office in Stormont Castle that he actually was following the England cricket team. He knew all the players,' Lord Hain said.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: 'I want to extend my sympathy and sincere condolences to the family of Martin McGuinness at this difficult time.
'Martin's personal journey and the clear influence he had on others in the republican movement were instrumental in shaping political institutions in Northern Ireland founded on exclusively peaceful and democratic means'.
And former Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said: 'Martin McGuinness's passing is a sad loss to his family, friends and to Northern Ireland as a whole. He was an indispensable part of the peace process.
'Though Martin remained a staunch Republican, he had the courage to change, to compromise, to abandon violence, to embrace old enemies, to promote reconciliation and he made a massive contribution in shaping a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.'
The Brighton hotel bombing
The Brighton hotel bombing was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination attempt against the top tier of the British government in 1984. It missed its main targets but killed five others. It occurred on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Brighton Hotel in Brighton. A long-delay time bomb was planted in the hotel by IRA member Patrick Magee, with the purpose of killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet, who were staying at the hotel for the Conservative Party conference. Although Thatcher narrowly escaped injury, five people were killed including a sitting Conservative MP, and 31 were injured
Amyloidosis: Rare condition that killed Martin McGuinness
Amyloidosis is a group of rare but serious conditions caused by deposits of abnormal protein, called amyloid, in tissues and organs throughout the body.
Proteins begin as a string of amino acids that fold themselves into a three-dimensional shape. This 'protein folding' allows them to perform useful functions within our cells.
Amyloid is a description of proteins which have folded abnormally and then collected together. In this form they do not break down as easily as normal proteins and can build up in tissues and organs.
If this build-up causes the tissues or organs to stop working properly, the resulting conditions are called amyloidosis.
The amyloid deposits occasionally only affect one part of the body (localised amyloidosis), but more often several different part of the body are affected (systemic amyloidosis), such as the heart, kidneys, liver, or nerves.
Without treatment to address the underlying cause, the amyloid deposits can eventually lead to organ failure and death – sometimes within only a year or two.
There are around 30 different proteins that can misfold and form amyloid, which is why there are many different types of amyloidosis.
Overall, about 600 new cases of amyloidosis are diagnosed in the UK every year and most occur in older people.
Source NHS Choices
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