Dissidents ‘make Bogside ghetto’
The deputy first minister has accused dissident republicans of turning the Bogside into a “ghetto”.
Mr McGuinness said small elements in the community were being used and manipulated by the Real IRA. The group has issued a death threat against him.
“So-called political spokespeople condemn young people writing on walls as hoods and criminals when they, in fact, are the instigators,” he said.
“They have effectively tried to turn parts of Derry into a slum.”
“Outside the school where my eldest grandchild goes, I came out one day to see written on the wall, ‘You’re next Martin’.
“Neither I nor anybody else in Sinn Féin will allow these sort of threats to stop us.”
Speaking on Friday at Free Derry Corner, the Sinn Féin MP said he had a job to do and that he intended to do it.
Mr McGuinness also said his wife and children had been verbally abused by “mouthpieces” in the street.
“People are trying to hijack the Republican cause for their own purpose. Well they’re not going to succeed,” he said
“We have a job to do. Yes it is a difficult job, and yes it may be a dangerous job, and yes some of us my lose our lives in the future.
“But I am not going to be threatened, I am not going to be intimidated and I am certainly not going to live my life in fear.”
